Destiny OTVA
by Eltyr
Summary: A young Awoken is resurrected as a Warlock in a world she barely remembers. Making her way to the last City, she must find the courage to stand with the Light, or all will fall to the Darkness. But she is not alone: an eccentric human scholar with ties to Ishtar academy, an Exo who helped build the first walls, and an Awoken assassin with a deep hatred of the Hive shall aid her.
1. Chapter 1

Words from the authors: Welcome to Destiny O.T.V.A. First of all, the idea for this fanfic was originally devised by my good friend Mouse, or as she is known here on fanfic, ColetteJH. This fanfic is essentially a narrative of the Destiny campaign, but worry not: rather than be a walkthrough this story is rife with OCs and plenty of scenes that go beyond the main story. At first this story will follow Ocena, Colettes' Guardian, whose character according to Colette is based off of how she would react if she found herself in this sort of situation (I mean fess up: anyone would panic if their life was beng threatened and they couldn't remember jack squat). Pretty soon though, Ocena will run into my own Guardians and the Guardians of a few player friends of mine, each of home has their own personality. This fanfic is being written in collaboration with Colette on Drive, so you may notice some sudden changes in writing style as we take turns writing parts. Please review and comment, and I will be happy to pass along any comments directed at Colette. Hope you enjoy!

Destiny O.T.V.A

Ch1

_What happened? Has something changed? I… was in light before? I swear I saw something; like maybe a forest..? I can't remember now… what has happened? Why is it dark… am I… where is this? It's so dark…_ A flicker... the ground, dirt and something white. _What was that? I can't… I need to see, are my eyes just not open?_

A voice. An odd sounding voice, almost like a machine._*"Guardian... Guardian? Eyes up Guardian!"* _ Her vision cleared and the gaze slowly moved upward to a strange floating machine, like an eye. _*"It worked… You're alive!"*_ It was shaped like a type of star and had a bright blue glow… it had a male voice; but what was it? _*"You don't know how long I've been looking for you."*_

_Looking for me? Why?_ The gaze didn't stray far from the odd machine before her. But she was able to see a large building just off to the right, ruined cars everywhere, trees, rocks… dead grass or snow? She wasn't sure.

_*"I'm a ghost. Actually, now I'm your Ghost. And you... Well, you've been dead a long time. So, you're going to see a lot of things you won't understand."*_

"Dead…? I was dead? How am I here now? What's going on?" She had a high, sing-song like voice; that's right, she liked to sing… she never liked dresses though… but… why could she not recall much? She looked at her hands moving her fingers as she spoke becoming scared and confused.

The Ghost seemed to want to answer her but now didn't seem to be the time. The Ghost turned away sharply at an odd sound: a growl? A type of call?

The Ghost turned back to her seeming urgent now. _*"This is Fallen territory. We aren't safe here."*_ He looked around and drifted away a bit toward the building. _*"I have to get you to the City."* _He came back over and said, _*"Hold still,"*_ before he vanished in a quick shimmer of blue lights.,For a moment she panicked thinking he was gone but he spoke again, his voice seeming to come from inside her head and easing her worry. _"*Don't worry, I'm still with you. We need to move, fast."*_ His voice seemed clearer, louder like this... perhaps comforting. _*"We won't survive long out in the open like this. Let's get inside the wall."*_

She moved forward running to the building, trusting the Ghost but none the less scared and confused. The building was dark and large and because of the darkness the young woman fell as she went up a staircase she stayed on the floor blinking away tears. _*" Guardian are you alright?"* _The Ghost asked hovering close.

"No… I'm scared… I'm confused." The light flickered a little. _*"I can help with the confusion but not now we aren't safe here we must get out of here, I'll be with you so don't worry."* _The woman sniffed and sat up. "Um… do you have a name other than Ghost?"

_*"No… Ghosts never had the need."*_

She frowned. "Is it okay if call you something else?"

_*"I don't mind."*_

She bit her lower lip and thought. There used to be a name she liked a lot what was it?

"Luden?"

_*"Luden…"* _The Ghost repeated_. *"I like the sound of it-"* _He broke off and the woman jumped when they both heard that harsh sound again. The woman got up wrapping her arms around herself as she started to move forward.

"I think my name is Ocena."

_*"Lovely name… come Ocena."* _She followed until Luden shifted back to her.

_*"Okay… I need to find you a weapon before the Fallen find us."* _Luden said as Ocena made her way up a few more stairs. The building was dark sure but there was some red taint then it got horribly dark. _*"Quiet. They're right above us."*_ Luden said in a whisper. Ocena slowed and gazed around. Had this building been a factory once? She came to large open space it was too dark to see. _*"Hang tight."* _Luden said moving away from Ocena to the dark space lighting it up a bit.

_*"Fallen thrive in the dark,_ _we won't. We need more light. I'll see what I can do."* _He drifted around casting light. Ocena jumped seeing something crawling around on a type of pillar. What was that? _*"Another one of these hardened military systems... and a few centuries of entropy working against me."* _It got dark again for a few minutes then lights started to turn on. Suddenly Ocena wished it had stayed dark, there were so many of them! And they made the most scary sounds.

_*"Here! I found a rifle! Grab it."* _The Ghost said as a gate lifted, the rifle was leaning against a box.

"Wait, what?!"

_*"We haven't got another choice."*_

_We? I don't see him holding a gun!_ Ocena thought as she picked it up, the gun shook in her hands. She had no idea how to use it!

_*"I hope you know how to use that thing."*_

"I don't!" Ocena hissed softly, inching forward fearfully. She saw a shadow ahead and backed up a bit.

_*"What was that?... Eyes open. Watch your tracker."*_

_Tracker?_ Ocena saw a circle in the upper left corner of her vision; it had red lines on the outer circle.

She slowly moved forward then cried out in shock and fear as the Fallen jumped down in front of her. Without thinking she thrust out her hand and a wave hit one of the two sending it back and killing it… she had just killed it.

"Ah!" The other Fallen struck her; Ocena backed away quickly and hid behind a wall.

"Luden what do I do?!"

_*"Try to stay calm. Point the gun straight at the Fallen and pull the trigger. I can get you proper target practice once we're safe."* _Ocena took three deep breaths then turned back to the Fallen and did as Luden said. This Fallen was a little tougher than the other… a bit bigger too. Once it fell Ocena gasped and dropped to her knees and tried to get air, it seemed hard suddenly.

_*"Guardian! Ocena! Breath it'll be alright. Ah… uh…"* _The Ghost struggled with words. It was clear Ocena was hyperventilating , or having a… what was it called? An asthma attack? Or just a panic attack? Whichever she needed to calm down. _*"Ocena, why is it hard to breath? Do your chest muscles hurt? Can you speak properly?"*_

"Yes, I'm okay… just panicking." Luden felt relief rush through him. But also worry, Ocena would need a lot of guidance and help he knew that already.

_*"I'm sorry Ocena you must get up and keep moving I can suggest, you run when you see the Fallen and try to avoid fighting them."*_

"Okay…" Ocena stood and broke into a run, she cared less about looking around the building she was in she didn't care what it was she just wanted to get out and be safe.

_*"I'm getting signs of a Jumpship. Could be our ticket out of here."* _Ocena felt hope well in her, they could leave!

She ran a bit more across a snow covered ruin, when a flare suddenly shot up into the air. Ocena's eyes were immediatly drawn to it, wondering where it had come from, but her curiosity quickly vanished when she caught a glimpse of something in the building where it had gone off: a jumpship!

Oceana was forced to fight through a bunch of Fallen in order to reach it. Luden talked to her while she did just managing to keep her calm until the Fallen were all down.

_*"It's been here awhile."* _The Ghost said, flying over and scanning the ship. _*"Hasn't made a jump in centuries. We're lucky the Fallen haven't completely picked it clean."*_

"Will it fly?" Ocena asked a little worried.

Luden turned to her. _*"I can make it work,"* _ he stated confidently. He vanished in a shimmer of blue lights. The ship gave a groan and moved a little then lights turned on. The jets came to life and the ship moved more. The ship shuddered and got free from the wires holding it and hovered freely. _*"Okay... It's not going to break orbit, but it just might get us to the City. Now - about that transmat..."*_

Ocena turned hearing the Fallen; they were still coming. And there was one leading them that was bigger than any she had ever seen. She started to panic again, and as she did a strange violet light began to build around her. "Luden!" Suddenly something in Ocena's mind told her to act as though she was throwing a ball at the Fallen. Unsure why she was doing it, she went through the motion, and blinked in amazement when a sphere of violet energy coalesced in her hand, which she then hurled at the incoming Fallen. A moment later, the sphere went off with a great bang, knocking the Fallen off their feet and staggering the leader. Ocena blinked: how did she do that?

_*"I'm bringing you in!"* _Ocena vanished in the blue shimmers and was in the ship suddenly, Luden took care of the ship knowing Ocena had no idea how to drive it right now. _*"We can come back for them when you're ready. Let's get you home."* _The ship took off for the City, unknown to them someone had been watching them leave other than the Fallen.

The Tower

Ocena couldn't believe her eyes as the jumpship cleared the wall: the last city of humanity was HUGE. Endless fields of farmlands gave way to enormous factory districts that encircled the City's largest part: the resident district that housed the last surviving remnants of humanity. And floating above the center of it all…

"Is… is that it?" She asked in awe, sensing some kind of warmth coming from it.

_*"That's it alright."*_ Responded Luden . _*"The Traveler."*_

It was MASSIVE. It must have been a third the size of Earth's moon, at least! But her eyes were drawn to the many cracks and chips in its otherwise smooth surface, ugly scars that told of horrific damage. _What in the world happened to it? _She wondered as they flew over the City. Her attention was drawn back to the forward view screen as she felt the ship climb in altitude again.

"Luden? Why are we going up..?" The rest of her question died in her throat as the upper recess of the Tower came into view. It was tall enough to be level with the Traveler itself, looking out over the entire City from atop the outermost wall. A few jumpships of varying design could be seen entering or exiting the massive docking bays where mechanized drones were conducting flight traffic or making repairs. Ocena suddenly found herself on solid ground again she felt like she could fall over but remained upright.

_*"Welcome to the last safe City on Earth - the only place the Traveler can still protect. It took centuries to build. Now... we're counting every day it stands."* _Luden said as they looked over the city. They then turned around to face the Tower they were on.

_*"And this Tower is where the Guardians live. I could explain things to you but it'd be best if you spoke to those around the Tower. They can help perhaps a bit better than I can."* _The Ghost didn't say it out loud but he was worried for his chosen Guardian. She was young maybe just twenty, she was very fearful it was common but she wasn't a common type she was likely fearful before her death. And to have trouble fighting? She needed help badly and as her Ghost he could only do so much.

_*"Look for Ikora Rey, they will help with equipment. And I'm sure you'll find someone else to help you as well."* _Ocena nodded and started on her way. She quickly grew to love the Tower: it was large… not enough for her to really get lost in but she still managed. She was happy when Luden helped her find her way again. The Tower was also lovely; she even saw plant life here and there! After she had talked to Ikorra Rey she also saw someone about guns and then a person for her ship. Luden then told her she could explore the Tower for a while so she decided to try to find someone to help her understand things. Such as being a Guardian and fighting…


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: My (Eltyr) Ocs will be making their grand debut in this chapter and serving as Ocena's mentors. Mass Effect fans will notice that I draw inspiration from a certain… precise mercenary ;)

Ch.2

Ocena had wandered all around the Tower but hadn't really found anyone to help her understand things… also it has occurred to her she had no idea who she was and if she had family… not that it would matter Luden had said she had been dead for a long time. So she was alone.

_*"Ocena what's wrong? Why are you crying?"*_

"I'm alone… I don't have any family… I have no idea what's going on, I had to kill things today…"

The Ghost didn't know what to say. What could he say? Oh he had an idea, he knew two other Ghosts with great Guardians they could help Ocena. They could teach her some things they could maybe be friends to her so she wouldn't be alone. They could help her when she went out on missions. Yes, it was settled he would look for the other two Ghosts and speak to their Guardians.

_*"Ocena how about we head back down to the couches so you can rest? You did a good amount a of fighting you aren't used to. It'd be good to get some sleep."*_

"Okay…" Ocena slowly made her way back down. Once there she curled up on one of the couches and gazed at her Ghost. "You'll be here when I wake up?"

_*"Of course I don't intend to go far. Just rest."*_ She didn't need to know he was leaving her for a while she likely wouldn't even know. Ocena closed her eyes and was sleeping in minutes. Luden drifted over to a near Guardian who looked up as he came over.

_*"Do you mind watching her for me? I need to find some people to help her."*_

The Guardian looked over to Ocena then nodded. Luden went off to find the two Ghosts and their Guardians.

Luden found one of the two he was looking for in the main courtyard, and he had to suppress a groan over the fact that he was doing the 'aloof thing' that his class of Guardian was known for doing. In this case, it meant sitting perched in the upper branches of one of the trees that decorated the plaza, glowing lime-green eyes staring straight ahead at the distant Traveler with a vaguely haunted look. His Ghost caught sight of Luden and drifted over, seemingly unnoticed by his Guardian.

*Haven't seen you around in a while,* he greeted Luden. *What brings you here?*

_*"I came to ask for your help,"*_ Luden replied. _*"Yours and your Guardian's: I've finally found mine-*"_

*That's wonderful!*

_*"But she needs… a mentor, someone to take her under their wing and show her the ropes.*"_

The other Ghost appeared to consider this for a moment. *What's your Guardian's classification?*

_*"She's a Warlock,*"_ Luden replied.

*She is? Well… I don't mean to sound rude, but wouldn't it make more sense to ask one of the Warlocks to help?*

_*"Actually, I had a particular Warlock in mind: you know the one, he helped the two of you find the… 'sinister' hand cannon?*"_

*Him? Ooooh…* the Ghost trailed off as comprehension set in.

_*"Yeah,*"_ Luden replied. *"I figured it would be better if I first found someone a bit more level-headed to help him… er, help her._"*_

*Makes sense. I still think you should ask after him though: Traveler knows there are just some things that Guardians of different classes just don't get about each other, especially concerning Warlocks.*

_*"I'm not talking skills… she is fearful… very fearful she had a panic attack earlier"* _

The Ghost blinked its glowing eye once. *Oh… _oh_… I see. Now I see why you came to us first. He's not the most sociable, even for a Hunter, but I'm sure he'd be more than willing to help. Let me just…* The Ghost turned towards the tree, only to glance about wildly when his Guardian was nowhere to be seen in the tree branches. The Ghost let out an exasperated sigh. *I really hate it when he does that… I'll pass the message to him, as soon as I pin him down by that cloak of his…* he trailed off darkly.

_*"... Alright."* _Luden twitched getting a sense from his Guardian, she woke up before he got back.

_*"I may be facing some trouble in a minute."*_

*Trouble? What do you mean?*

_*"My Guardian woke up, and given how she was with the Fallen and before she went to sleep, she isn't bound to react well upon discovering I'm not-"*_

Luden shivered. Yes there was a problem: she wasn't taking him not being there well.

She was making fretful noises as she stirred, but he did not break the silence; he merely continued to observe her with his hands clasped and his elbows propped up on his knees. Her hair was immaculately white like snow and cascaded over her shoulders like falling water while resting at her hip, and her skin was a pale shade common among their people, not unlike his own pale blue skin. He observed that she was dressed in the tattered vestiges of a Warlock, but her garb was of a quality that confirmed his suspicions.

_A newly minted Warlock, _the Hunter thought to himself. _I cannot remember the last time a new Guardian came to the Tower._ "It is a good day after all," he whispered softly to himself, unaware that she was awake enough to hear him.

Ocena slowly woke up not feeling rested at all: far too much on her mind. Unknowingly, she sensed her Ghost wasn't near… someone else was and she wasn't sure she wanted to open her eyes.

She knew she was starting to panic like she had when facing the Fallen but she couldn't help it. Then she heard a voice. It was deep, almost a croak, but at the same time it was… like a whisper. There was something hushed about the voice, as if it's owner was very afraid… or very sad.

"It is a good day after all."

Ocena opened her eyes and sat up only to freeze. Who was this? Where was her Ghost? Unbeknownst to Ocena, the air around her was starting to fizzle a little, and tiny sparks of violet glimmering light were beginning to gather around her. The Hunter watching her _did _see all of this, but did not react.

"Luden?" She called. Nothing.

"Apologies, I believe that my appearance has startled you: please rest assured that I will never mean you any harm." The stranger spoke. She could see that he had pale blue skin, along with white hair and green eyes that glowed like hers. "I do not wish to startle you further," he went on calmly, "but I must ask you to take a deep breath and try to calm down, as it seems that you're distressed emotions are… shall we say, making the laws of physics nervous?"

She blinked, confused. What was he talking about? And why should she trust him? Ocena didn't know… she just wanted Luden.

"Who… Who are you…?" She asked.

The Hunter noted that the light wasn't getting any brighter, but it wasn't dissipating either. "Very well. My name is Thane. I have no last name. None that I remember, at any rate."

Ocena didn't calm. She still wasn't sure of this man… she knew his name yes but…

"What… what are you? Why do your eyes glow?"

Thane opened his mouth to respond, but then froze, and took on a thoughtful expression. "Actually… I do not know why my eyes glow. But it is a common trait shared by those who are known as the Awoken, like you and I. That is what I… what _we_ are."

She frowned, too focused with questions to remain upset. "Awoken..? What is-" She broke off, thinking she must be annoying him with the questions; but she just had so many!

Thane raised an eyebrow, but then nodded sadly in understanding. "I see. The damage to your memory must be severe indeed. Do not fret: it will recover with time, but I can help you fill in some of the blanks. The Awoken are a large group of humans whose ancestors fled into space and spent several centuries hiding out in the remains of space colonies and asteroid belts. Over time, it changed them, so that they look… like us. Other than our appearance, there is no difference between us and a 'normal' human."

Ocena bit her lip wondering how much he could tell her...

*THERE YOU ARE!* Thane winced as his Ghost's sudden voice caused Ocena to jump, and simultaneously caused the air to become charged with tiny sparks of violet lightning. *HOW MANY TIMES..?* Without looking around Thane's hands shot up and seized his Ghost before burying it into his armored chest in an attempt to smother it.

"I know, I'm sorry: please lower your voice, you are distressing a Warlock in a very fragile state, which in turn is causing a general fragility in reality near her. A reality, I should point out, that includes _us _in the immediate vicinity." Luckily the Ghost got the idea and went silent.

Ocena blinked at the display. Didn't that hurt the Ghost? No from the looks it didn't. Ocena brightened when she saw Luden drifting over to her.

_*"You are calm."* _Luden said a little surprised.

"Yes… mostly…"

She looked back to the man across from her and tilted her head. She had more questions.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch3

"I have more to ask…" Ocena said softly ducking her head a little. She shifted to get more comfortable, she let her legs fall to the floor and rested her clenched hands on her legs.

"What are the Guardians? What does it mean to be one? How many are there? Do they all fight or can some heal? Or… or make shields? Do I have to fight? It's scary… what was I doing before? What's the City like? Can we go down there? Does every Guardian have a home? Or is this all there is? What did you mean my memory has damage?"

Ocena knew that was a lot but she needed answers. She had one other thing to ask but she didn't know the man well enough to request friendship… no matter how alone she felt she couldn't do that.

Luden looked to the other Ghost. _*"This is one reason she needs help."*_

Thane blinked owlishly at Ocena for a moment, caught quite off guard by her sudden barrage of inquiries. Then an amused smile found it's way upon his face as he released his grip on his Ghost. "I had anticipated that you might have questions," he said evenly, "but it would appear I will require assistance if I am to satisfy your curiosity. Prayer?" Thane's Ghost, Prayer apparently, turned to face him. "Would you mind sending a Flash Mail to Victor's Ghost asking him to meet us down here for something important?"

Prayer glanced over at Luden for a moment before responding. *"Alright, I think Luden here was meaning to bring him in on this too. I'll let them know where we are."*

Thane nodded and turned back to Ocena, noting with quiet relief that the air around her was no longer in immediate danger of spontaneously exploding. "In the mean time, I will do what I can to answer what I can. You asked how many Guardians there are? Our exact numbers are difficult to say for certain: some I see everyday around here, others have been out in the wilds for so long we are not sure if they are still out there at all. My best guess is that we currently number somewhere between one and two thousand: there used to be many more of us," he finished sadly.

Ocena thought about that a moment. "So no one fights alone then?"

_*"No one has to."* _Luden said.

Thane frowned. "However, some of the more… bold, or foolish among our ranks choose to go into the wild on their own, seeking fame or lost relics of the Golden Age. I'm ashamed to say that my classification of Guardian produces these types more than the others do."

"You do those things too? Or just others? What's your classification?" Ocena asked.

"I am what's known as a Hunter," Thane replied. "I specialize in taking a very indirect approach to combat when needed: if required, I can make it very difficult for our foes to notice me, and I am patient enough to wait for a few days in order to get one perfect shot in the right place. Out in the wild, my brethren and I serve as scouts and rangers: we map out the ruins of the territory that humanity once held and identify key points from which to ambush our foes and destroy them before they can find us."

Thane paused in thought for a moment. "Many Hunters have a flair for the dramatic: they like to show off. I suffer no such delusions of grandeur: I have no fame to earn." There was something grim and chilling in the last part of Thane's sentence.

Ocena was glad for the information but… why did he sound… so… sad at the last bit? She wouldn't ask it wasn't her business.

"So… who can answer my other questions?"

"He should be within earshot in a handful of seconds," Thane replied calmly without turning away from Ocena. She was about to ask what he meant when she heard a new voice from behind Thane.

"So here you are Thane: skulking about in the shadows. I thought you said you didn't feel the need to play the mysterious and..?" A human trailed off as he stepped into view and caught sight of Ocena. He had bowl-cut red hair and deep blue eyes that did not glow, and his skin was a pleasant peachy shade. His face was very open and had a faint tattoo of a blue glyph that looked like an 'A.' He was also dressed in robes similar to Ocena, only his was made out of much more sturdy looking material and was colored metallic blue and bright yellow.

"Hullo hullo, and who is this?" The newcomer asked, eyes seeming to light up as he studied Ocena's face.

Ocena blinked having just managed not to jump when he suddenly came in.

"Um… I'm Ocena…"

"She is the important something I Flash Mailed you about," Thane said with a quick glance in his direction. "Ocena, this is my friend Victor, a Warlock like you and one of the most powerful Guardians I know. Victor, this is Ocena. She is a _very _new Warlock, and her Ghost… Luden was it? Has asked us to take her under our tutelage."

An enormous grin spread across Victor's face and he clasped his hands together. "Splendid! I can't remember the last time we've had a new Guardian, much less a Warlock! Where did you come from, Ocena?"

"Um… uh…"

_*"I found her in Old Russia, Cosmodrome."* _Luden said. _*"Her memory is very damaged it seems."*_

Victor frowned at the part about Ocena's memory, but smiled again as he sat down next to Thane. "Old Russia? We'd speculated that there might still be technology worth salvaging there, but our petitions to lead scavenging parties keep getting turned down by the Vanguard and the council; Fallen house of Devils based somewhere there, relatively close to the City, could provoke aggression from them. Not quite enough manpower to make a foothold. You came in a ship salvaged from the Cosmodrome, yes? Perhaps your escapades have rattled the Fallen and-"

Ocena flinched at the mention of the Fallen.

*Victor, you're doing it again; TAKE A BREATH.* Interrupted a Ghost that appeared next to Victor. Victor halted mid-sentence, looking like a thought or two had just slipped away before blinking himself out of his stupor. "Ah right, sorry about that: you've probably got so many questions and here I am rambling on and on…" Victor smiled apologetically. "Thanks for that, Idea."

*No problem,* the Ghost Idea replied.

"So… you can answer my questions?" Ocena asked.

Victor smiled pleasantly. "Fire away."

Ocena repeated all which she asked Thane earlier minus the Guardian numbers question.

Victor sat in thought for a moment before answering. "Guardians… well first and foremost, all Guardians are warriors of a sort. We can't quite use our Light to heal others in battle, but we can speed natural recovery when working together here in the Tower. All Guardians are chosen by Ghosts from among the dead to serve as vessels for the Traveler's Light." Victor paused. "Er, you _were_ aware that you used to be dead before your Ghost found you?"

"Yes… but… how was coming back possible?"

"Humanity found the Traveler on Mars centuries ago, and from it we learned… _so much_. Our technology leapfrogged forward, and many things thought to be impossible were made possible: human lifespan tripled, faster-than-light travel became possible, and we terraformed acidic, inhospitable Mercury into a _garden _world. With the Traveler's Light, science changed profoundly, allowing us to program matter into the states and forms we desired; physics could work in new and never before thought of ways. But…" Victor trailed off with a frown. "We aren't entirely sure how resurrecting the dead is possible. We Warlocks have put our collective minds together, but our order is still no closer to really understanding the process. One popular theory is that the Traveler's Light brings about the bulk of this miracle, while the Ghosts simply transform dead matter back into living matter."

"So…" Ocena frowned. "Is that why the memories vanish?"

"We assume so," Victor replied with a curt nod. "The Ghosts can only resurrect those who are able to house the Traveler's Light within themselves. That's what makes us special as Guardians: within you now is a part of the Traveler's Light. It is a part of who you are now, allowing you to do extraordinary things that only Guardians can do. However, dying and being brought back to life is a very traumatic thing. We don't know what the exact cause is, but considering the implications of resurrecting the dead, memory loss is not very surprising when you think about it from a more removed point of view."

"Memory loss does not occur during future resurrections," Thane said quietly.

Ocena paled more than she already was. "We can… keep dying and coming back…?"

Thane shifted nervously, realizing that he may have steered into dangerous territory. "...Yes. Should any Guardian be slain, his or her Ghost will capture their mind and hold onto it for as long as it can. In this state, another Guardian can provide a small pulse of their own Light, and with it the fallen Guardian's Ghost can quickly resurrect them."

"It really is a fascinating process," Victor mused. "Though naturally it's better to try not to die at all in the first place. Sometimes it can't be avoided though, and that's why it's always better to work in groups."

Ocena shook her head trying to process that death just wasn't permanent… that really shouldn't be… it couldn't.

"My head hurts…"

Thane imperceptibly scooted back a little in caution, while Victor leaned forward. "Stay calm. I know that this is a terrible amount of information to take in: just take it slow. Breath in, breath out."

_*"Not working…"* _Luden drifted closer to her not sure what was wrong. It couldn't just be what she had heard.

Ocena closed her eyes and held her head. She couldn't focus.

Victor frowned as he felt reality beginning to fill up with minute pocket voids around Ocena: little unseen bubbles in reality that contained self-perpetuating vacuums of nothingness. He concentrated and reached within himself, grasping the Light that flowed like a radiant stream through his body and directing it around Ocena, warming the air slightly and creating a soft glow similar to sunlight.

Ocena felt warmth around her and tried to focus on it but the throbbing in her head was distracting… she was starting to feel dizzy. She swayed a little before she fell over back on the couch still holding her head.

"Hurts… help… Luden… Thane… Victor… hurts…"

Sound faded out, she couldn't hear Luden calling out to her or floating around her. She just wanted it all to stop give her a chance to understand better. Thane and Victor were pretty careful but… but… the darkness she was in was getting very inviting maybe the pain would stop if she went in it? Ocena let herself slip off not knowing the panic she was making her Ghost go through. Or the likely confusion of the other two Guardians. She thought she saw Thane dart forward to catch her as her vision faded...

"Here." Ocena said holding out a box to a man. "This is for always helping me out with the twins."

"You didn't have to get me anything for that. I'm glad to help." He replied.

"I know but…"

He gently took the box from her smiling. "Thank you."

Ocena smiled back.

"Orin stop wiggling I'll end up dropping you."

Ocena smiled softly watching her friend struggle to carry one of her little sisters.

"Down, down!"

"I'll let you down when we get to the park."

"Listen to Braket, Orin." Ocena said. "And Hilli try not to pull out the flowers today alright?"

"Otay!"

It would be a fun day at the park… for Ocena and the twins anyway Braket was going to go nuts.

"Mommy?"

"Yes Ocena?"

"Will daddy be back soon?"

Her mother smiled softly. "He should."

"...Do you ever worry he won't come back?"

Her mother gave a sad smile. "I do sometimes but in the end he always comes home dear. I have his friends to thank for that. They look after him. I think one day you'll have friends who look after you."

"Ocena?"

"Yes?"

"Will you come home today?"

Ocena smiled thinking back to a talk with her mother.

"I will because I'll have Braket with me, he'll look after me. And one day you too will have friends to look after you as well."

The twins smiled.

The blurry memories stopped and Ocena simply rested not knowing those around her outside her mind had heard her talk a bit in her sleep.

Victor watched Ocena's expression as he followed Thane down to the general living quarters in the lower levels of the Tower, Ocena held carefully in his arms bridal style.

"At least it looks to be a good dream…" Victor muttered as he observed the tiny smile on Ocena's face.

"What?" Thane asked as they reached the large wing set aside for the Guardians.

"She looks like she's having a good dream," Victor clarified. "I certainly hope so at least; Traveler knows she deserves a few good dreams with all that she's been through."

Thane nodded sympathetically as they made a turn down one corridor towards the section where most of the Warlocks had claimed their residence. "She seems so very frail. It is not my place to question the Traveler's will, but I fear for her in what is to come. We have all been fighting this war against the Darkness for so long, and now she is being thrust into it with a fragmented past and only a few small sparks of courage." He strengthened his grip on Ocena without hurting her. "I do not know if we can protect her. But I must try."

Victor frowned. "Why must you say that as if you will be protecting her alone? Give her time and let me help. I guarantee that she'll feel far more confident once she's able to hurl exploding spheres of Voidlight with her mind and a little sleight of hand."

"And guns?" Thane asked pointedly. "Luden said her hands trembled violently when she first held a scavenged weapon, so much so that she nearly missed the Dreg intending to remove her head."

"My hands shook too!" Victor pointed out stubbornly. "Every brilliant Light begins as a tiny spark. We just need to help her find her courage. The Crucible…"

"Absolutely not," Thane interrupted crisply. "Being shot at by other Guardians? Dying over and over again for training? She'd be horrified, crippled by fear. No. We train her ourselves, out on the wall if we must. Perhaps Shaxx will allow us to have a Crucible arena to ourselves?"

Victor snorted. "He'd sooner sell his weapons and armor and say that we should pray for peace, not train to fight the Darkness."

"Better than subjecting her to the chaos of the games."

Victor fell silent in thought as Thane carried her into an empty suite of rooms that Ikora Rey had arranged for Ocena to have. Thane gently set her down on top of the bed, taking a moment to brush a few stray locks of hair out of her face before stepping back.

"We should take her down to the residential district," Victor whispered suddenly. "Let her see what we are defending here. We can tell her about the Golden Age, the Collapse, as well as why and what we are fighting. Perhaps then we can start to work on giving her courage."

Thane was silent for a few moments as he considered Victor's proposition. "Agreed." he said at last. "It would do her good to see the precious lives that we must safeguard. It may serve to make her more nervous, or it may galvanize her to fight for them. Either way, something must be done. For now, we let her rest."

"No arguments here," Victor replied with a smile as he and Thane made to leave. A thought occurred to Victor. "When we finally do coax her into venturing out for training, we should see if we can convince Atom to come with us."

Thane turned to Victor. "The Titan? Would not his aggressive attitude be a hindrance towards…" Comprehension set in. "Ahhh, yes I see. I believe you are right: he may be just the Guardian we need to be tough on her while also being reassuring."

"Nothing says reassuring like being able to rip open a pocket in reality and blocking gunfire with it," Victor quipped with a smile as the two senior Guardians made their way towards one of the many lounge rooms.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch4

Ocena slowly blinked open her blue eyes, the room coming into focus. Where was she?

_*"You're awake!"*_

Luden came into view.

"Hello… what happened?"

_*"I don't know, you didn't respond to me at all… or protest at being carried."*_

"Carried? Who carried me? Where is this?"

_*"Thane carried you here. This is a part of the Tower that's been set aside as living quarters for Guardians. This room and the three rooms connected to it are all yours."*_

"He did? I..." She had noticed some movement… and- She cut that thought off as a slight flush came over her pale face. She didn't remember anyone carrying her before… but the little bits she did told her she had a family and friends once.

"Where is he?"

_*"Not too far, though they may be checking on you soon… you've been out for a while."* _

Ocena frowned. "Just how long was I out?"

_*"You passed out around noon… it's now five."* _Luden said.

"I better get up then…" She sat up and swung her legs over the bed but didn't stand.

The room was warm and the bed soft. Though there wasn't much to the room. A light colored dresser across from the bed and a closet in a corner near the door. There was a short small table near the bed that had a small drawer on it. The colors around the room were plain, whites and blues.

Ocena wondered if it would be okay to paint the room with different colors? She looked to the bed noting it had the same white and blue colors. Maybe she could change the colors on the bed as well?

Ocena stood up and pushed her hair back over her shoulders and decided to look through the dresser and closet.

There were few other outfits in the dresser and closet. A few red ones, black ones and blues. Those were most of her favorite colors.

Ocena didn't change her clothes, she didn't feel the need right now.

_*"I take it you like the room?"*_

"Very much… am I allowed to change the colors?"

_*"Of course."*_

"Wait you said rooms… is there more? Do I have a-" Ocena broke off when her stomach growled. She had slept the day away, it was natural to be hungry.

_*"Let's go find Thane and Victor, I'm sure they can help you get a good meal."*_

Ocena smiled brightly. "Okay let's go."

She skipped out of the room with Luden following her. Only to pause when she saw a mirror.

_*"Don't tell me you also forgot what you looked like?"* _Luden hoped not.

"Not really… just… never mind." Ocena opened the door to leave: Luden didn't need to know she didn't find herself pretty.

She found Thane and Victor a few floors up in what had to have been the biggest cafeteria in the world. A thousand wonderful and exotic smells assaulted Ocena from all sides, making her stomach growl at her in annoyance as she watched the other Guardians grabbing fruits and hot-cooked food or stuffing bars of what she guessed might be field rations into various pouches for later. Then she noticed Thane and Victor sitting at one table with another Guardian she did not recognize.

Ocena walked over shyly and paused a bit away from them.

"Hi…"

Victor turned around from his conversation with Thane and smiled as he spotted her. "Ah, Ocena! Good to see you up and about. Come, have a seat with us! You look like you could do with some food."

Ocena slowly took a seat next to Thane, careful to keep from making eye contact. Thane raised a brow at her in confusion before smiling politely and gently pushed her a tray of some sort of steaming meat. "I hope you slept well?" Thane asked.

"Yes… I recalled some things." She said hunching down a little.

Victor smiled brightly at Ocena. "That's wonderful! Just give it some time and try to recall those new memories from time to time: pretty soon you'll even be able to recall the little things that used to seem boring to you: no really!" He added at Ocena's disbelieving look. "You'd be amazed by how often seemingly dull and brief moments get remembered first!"

At this point the fourth Guardian at the table made a quiet "Hurumph," noise, causing Ocena to look his way and properly examine him. Her eyes went wide: he… he was a machine!

"So, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this is the newbie you two mooks were jawwin' about earlier?" He had a hint of an accent of some kind, like he came from a big city. His body, or at least the parts not covered by his clothing, was all orange alloys. His face was a series of smooth metal plates, most of which were lightly chipped. His eyes were two glowing blue orbs set into the part of his face that mimicked eye sockets. Other than his obviously mechanical appearance, his structure wasn't that different from a human. He noticed Ocena staring and parted his mouth plates in an approximation of a smile. "Whatcha' lookin' at? I know I'm one handsome mug and all, but let's keep this professional, yeah?"

Thane chuckled quietly. "Now now Atom, she's hardly in a fit state for you to be 'flirting' with her."

"Me and my rotten luck with women," Atom muttered while placing a hand over his face in mock-dramatic fashion. The light in his right eye blinked out for a second when he looked back at Ocena, and she realized it was his way of winking.

She colored brightly and ducked her head. She wasn't used to that kind of attention. At all.

"Um… Hi?"

Atom laughed heartily. "Alright, my high for the week? Gotta be finishing the grid skeleton for that new fabrication factory joint down in the industrial district: damn good work, if I must say so myself, which incidentally? I do." He extended his hand towards Ocena. "Names Atom, dontchu' worry: I ain't a biter."

"Okay…?" Ocena took his hand not sure about him.

Atom shook her hand enthusiastically: his grip was like iron! But he was unexpectedly gentle.

"We've asked Atom here to come with us on a little field trip of sorts," Victor explained. "Thane and I think it's time you saw the City from a view down on the ground instead of up here on the Tower." He paused for a moment. "Er, that is, if you think you feel up for it?"

Her eyes lit up and she sat up more. "I feel fine can we go down after we eat?..." She looked down to the tray. "I… don't think I eat meat though…"

"Can't work on an empty stomach," Atom said. "Well, _I _can, but hey, can't all be perfect, can we?" Victor laughed at Atom's joke while Thane merely smiled. "Alright, we'll help ya scrounge up some eats, then down we go to hoof it with the civvies."

A few hours later the group of Guardians had taken their respective Jumpships for a quick flight and drop-off at the City's enormous Residential District. Ocena stumbled a bit as she materialized on the ground, almost falling over before Thane darted forward quick as a flash and caught her.

"Trans-materialization," Victor said from somewhere ahead of them. "Certainly takes some getting used to; don't worry about it too much."

Ocena colored softly and righted herself before looking around with interest. The last City of humanity was packed with buildings of countless types of architecture and style: from seemingly worn-down structures with clotheslines and home-made rain-catchers strewn between them to sleek, pristine buildings, the City thrummed with energy as people of all sorts bustled from here to there. An Exo in bright clothes was calling out to passerby from his fruit stand, while a few Awoken could be seen on the roof of a nearby building making repairs to some sort of receiving dish. Many windows were lit even at that early morning hour, and the walls and causeways echoed the dull but comforting murmur of the crowds.

"Wow… there's a lot here." Blurry images flashed over her vision for a moment before leaving. She shook her head and blinked, that was odd. "What all is down here?"

"What ain't down here?" Atom asked, and Ocena could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Where we are now is the Residential district: if you live in the City and ain't a Guardian, odds are you're livin' here. The place is divided up into smaller neighborhoods and communities, with a marketplace or two thrown in here and there for luck. Also if you look up, you'll notice the Traveler's almost right on top of us."

Ocena looked up to see he was right. Then started looking around once more.

"So… marketplace? And shops? What could I find?" Wait… she… she didn't have money did she?

"Most of the major shopping centers border the Residential and Factory districts," Victor said helpfully. "The further away from the Traveler you go in the City, the closer you get to the Factory district, and beyond that district is the Farming district at the edge of the City, where they grow most if not all of the food that is eaten here."

"If you're thinkin' of shopping, you're only gonna find essentials," Atom spoke up. "Stuff like food, clothing, building materials. They've got some commercial products, don't get me wrong: gotta keep the economy rollin' somehow. But resources ain't plentiful, so people gotta focus on what they really need to get by."

Victor halted as something important occurred to him. "Oh, that's right! We need to teach her about Glimmer!"

Ocena blinked. "Glimmer? What's that?"

Victor turned around to face her. "Idea?" There was a small glow as Victor's Ghost materialized. "Would you mind transmatting a little Glimmer into my hand?"

*Coming right up,* Idea replied. A soft blue light shone from Idea's eye and onto Victor's outstretched hand, and a moment later a glowing blue cube appeared.

"Ocena, this is what we call Glimmer. It's a form of matter that can be programmed into many simple and useful forms, and can also be used as a handy power source. The people of the City use it as a form of currency, and we use it up in the Tower too."

"I see…" Ocena gazed at the little cube then recalled she had a few how she had them she didn't know but she had some nonetheless.

"So… no one sells… plants or anything? Or furniture? Or paint? I was thinking of redoing my room. Don't get me wrong its nice but…"

She didn't know how to explain.

"I guess I just want to personalize it." She wrung her hands a little looking down. She could remember she liked to decorate but loathed cleaning. Strange to recall little things easier than the more important things, like Victor had said.

Luden came out and floated at Ocena's shoulder. _*"I'm sure there's someone who sells such things. I've heard of a few places."*_

Ocena smiled hopefully.

"Sure, there's plenty of shops that sell stuff like that," Atom said with a smile. "Like I said, 'essentials,' and ya gotta do more than survive: ya gotta live too. Hard to do that in a place that looks like the inside of a prison cell." He shot a pointed look over at Thane, whom ignored it and eyed the nearby crowd of people, many of whom had noticed Idea and were whispering among themselves. "As for changin' things like wall-color, all we need is a Shader and we're set."

Ocena brightened. "Could we go look around for some things then?" She asked before noticing the crowd as well. The people were looking at Idea and Victor.

_*"We may get surrounded in a moment."* _Luden warned Ocena. He didn't know how she'd do in a crowd.

His warning came just a tad too late and the small group was surrounded. Ocena gave a soft yelp and ducked under the people and slipped off a little she hated being small but sometimes it helped to escape some situations.

"Oops… I just left them in there..."

"Best get used to that."

Ocea turned slightly at the voice. Another warlock, tall and rather dark; the man was a little intimidating.

"Huh?" Ocena questioned.

"People gathering around Guardians. I'm sure your friends will explain it all to you."

Ocena frowned. "Then why bother talking to me if you didn't plan on telling me anything?"

The man just gazed at her. "I wanted to know what those three were up to with a young woman. Don't get the wrong idea I didn't think they had something bad planned-"

_*"You just wondered why someone new was taking off so soon."*_ Luden said floating around Ocena's head.

"Yes, I see now they just wanted to show you around. If you're looking to shop home requirements try Gab's shop. He often has new stuff. There's also a flower stall, small but there none the less."

"What about seeds?"

He grinned. "Into gardening and farming hmm? I'm sure your friends can help you, I must go-"

"Hey Aron who you talking to?"

The man turned sharply then back to Ocena. "Get back to your friends little one, it'd be best if this man didn't see you."

He turned Ocena around and gave her a small push back to the crowd then was gone.

"What was that about?" Ocena muttered softly trying to get back to her friends.

_*"Ocena, try not to get parted_ _them for a while alright?"* _Luden knew that man who called out. Many females had complaints about him. The guy was an annoying and pushy flirt who didn't know what the word 'no' meant; he hadn't done anything bad he never did. The dark Warlock managed to keep him in check but Luden wouldn't take any chances. It was best Ocena stayed near Thane, Victor and Atom.

"I'll be careful." Ocena pushed the rest of the way through but tripped and ended up caught by Thane once again.

'What am I a princess in distress? He's always having to hold me up!' Ocena thought flushing. She righted herself and decided to wait for them to handle the situation not knowing they had noticed who she had been talking to and the guy who could have been trouble.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch.5

"Um… now what?" Ocena asked looking at the crowd.

"I suggest we find somewhere elevated and relatively private," Thane said in his usual hushed tones as Victor and Atom joined him.

Ocena followed her friends as best she could but she getting pushed a bit by the crowd. Victor fixed that problem by holding her shoulder and bringing her close so she didn't get parted from them. She noted they were headed to some shops and smiled. She could get some things for her rooms!

Ocena skipped a bit as she followed the other Guardians to a small outpost on the wall. She had everything she wanted for her rooms but she wanted to learn more about the situation she was in, so here they were.

They stopped and Ocena waited for the three to start.

It was Victor who broke the silence as he leaned over a rail and gazed at the distant Traveler. "Ocena, you recall what I said about humanity learning many things and discovering new technology by studying the Traveler, right?"

Ocena nodded. "Yes."

"We call the period of prosperity that resulted from this 'the Golden Age.' It was a period of time when we colonized every planet and moon in our solar system and did great things."

"But what we didn't realize," Thane added grimly, "was that the Traveler came to our solar system because it was fleeing from its ancient enemy: the Darkness."

"We still don't really know what it is," Victor said before Ocena could ask. "We only know that it is the opposite of everything that the Traveler and its Light stands for. With the arrival of the Darkness, our Golden Age came crashing to a halt, and an age of horrific strife began, a period of time that is referred to as 'the Collapse,' for that is when the vast empire we had created did just that: it fell all around us, and our planet spanning legacy has been reduced to this last city. In the final battle of the Collapse, the Traveler is said to have sacrificed itself to prevent the Darkness from completely covering Earth. This is what damaged it and left it in the state you see it in now." Victor paused to catch his breath, and to allow Ocena to take in his words.

Ocena thought about this for a moment. "Nothing against the Traveler or anything, but… it was fleeing right? It shouldn't have come to a place with life when it knew what the Darkness would do. It pretty much doomed everyone."

Atom bristled a little, but Thane set a hand on his shoulder before he could speak. "I understand how you might think that way. Consider: the Traveler had been fleeing the Darkness and battling it for a very, very long time. It is likely that it was backed into a corner when it came to our solar system."

"The more optimistic of our order also believe the Traveler saw great potential within our species," Victor added. "Trust me: we would never have learned _anything_ from the Traveler if it had not allowed it. Now it is wounded and dormant, sleeping as it attempts to recover, yet even in its dormant state it continues to protect us. It's very faint, but all Guardians can feel some of its Light covering the City and Tower in a protective embrace."

Ocena frowned, angered by her own thoughts. "I didn't think of that… sorry."

Atom visibly calmed down. "S'alright kid, this is all new to ya. Takes a while to make sense of any of it. Anyways, before it went and took a nap, the Traveler used the last of its strength to make the Ghosts, and they all went out and started makin' Guardians. So basically, we're the Traveler's way of fighting the Darkness while it tries to get its second wind for round two. We're the first and last line of defense. All those people you saw down there in the City, didja notice how they looked at us when they saw Victor's Ghost? Guardians are their last hope: they're _countin' _on us."

"Oh…" She grinned. "Must be cool having that… people looking up to you-" She cut off recalling the twins and felt a bit sad. No use thinking on it now.

Thane titled his head a little in curiosity. "That is one way to look at it. Others are frightened of the responsibility of having the hopes of an entire people placed upon one's shoulders. To be a Guardian, you _will _be expected to go back out there," he gestured vaguely beyond the walls, "and bring the fight to the Darkness and its minions, namely the alien species that have arrived in the Darknesses wake to loot the ruins of our empire."

Ocena got a little paler. "Okay..." She didn't like the thought of fighting but it didn't seem like she had a choice. No. The people in the City needed to be protected. She could do that; she _would_.

"That is, if we ever get cleared to leave," Atom grumbled. "For the past decade or so, all flights to locations beyond Earth have been restricted to Guardians assigned on long-term recon missions or Crucible business…"

"Cru- what?" Ocena asked tilting her head.

Thane winced slightly, but was too late to stop Atom from launching into an explanation.

"Well the official story's sumthin' like this: centuries ago, back when we were first buldin' the City walls-" 'Wait,' Ocena thought, 'why'd he say "we?" Was Atom actually there?' "-the different Houses, or groups of the Fallen actually banded together and attacked the City as one." He paused, and his faceplates shifted in a way that suggested he was angry. "The Fallen are a buncha' barbaric scavengers that _claim_ to have nobility, which is why they're divided into different clans called Houses. The differences and feuds between em' are long and deep, so for them all to come together and attack us as one, it was pretty rare. The worst of the fighting took place at a defense battery here on the wall called Twilight Gap." Atom pointed to a spot much further along the wall towards a battery of artillery guns. Ocena wasn't sure, but she thought she could hear explosions and gunfire coming from it. "The fighting was brutal: we lost so many Guardians just to retake the place and drive the Fallen off. Anyway, one of the survivors was a Titan named Shaxx. Shaxx proposed to the Council that we needed a new way to train up Guardians and toughen em' up in case another major battle like the one at Twilight Gap went down. The Council agreed, and the now 'Lord' Shaxx created the Crucible: war games where Guardians fight each other to the death to toughen each other up. Since everyone who fights in the Crucible has a Ghost with em', everyone's Ghosts synch up their Light so that anyone who dies automatically gets revived after a little. That way, Guardians can have real life-or-death training without death being permanent."

Thane watched Ocena nervously, worried that what Atom had just described might make her uneasy.

Ocena's reaction was highly reasonable for her after hearing that. If she wasn't so pale before, she certainly was now. She completely froze up, then the sparks started.

Victor's eyes widened. "Oh dear: Atom… just tell me _why?_ What made you think she'd be okay hearing about such things?"

"Hey, she's gotta learn about it sometime, it's all we get to do these days!" Atom retorted, violet light similar to the sparks Ocena was giving off beginning to gather around him.

"Ocena, calm down." Thane urged, not shouting but raising his voice so that it cut through the noise. "We're not taking you to the Crucible: you never have to set foot in it if you don't want to, we were planning to train you ourselves."

Ocena calmed, but only slightly. "I don't… have to go…?"

"Thane was against it," Victor put in. "And so was I once I stopped to think. It's clear that what we need to work on most is your confidence: getting shot at and continuously killed by the people who are supposed to be your allies didn't sound like the way to go about this."

The sparks went out slowly but went nonetheless.

"I… I never had good confidence…" She hunched down a bit ducking her head.

"Then let's start buldin' it up." Atom said suddenly. Violet light gathered around him, hugging his body like a second skin. Ocena could feel that _something _familiar was gathering around him, but what was it? Then Atom snapped both of his hands out to the side, and a huge dome of light appeared around him!

"...I will be able to that? Or is it just you?"

"Fraid' so," Atom answered from within the dome. "I'm what's known as a Defender Titan: you Warlocks use Voidlight to make things go bang, while we use it ta' make ourselves armor or shields to soak up bullets. This is what's called a 'Super,' when the Light inside ya' builds up to a certain point, you can do some crazy stuff like this depending on your sub-classification. Every class has two sub-classes that have different specializations." He nodded to Victor. "Vic here's gonna show you how much punishment my Ward of Dawn here can take, and also what a Voidwalker like you can do with a little trainin'. Alright Vic, lemme' have it!"

"Better stand back," Victor warned with a feral grin. "This little demonstration will be very… enthusiastic."

Ocena stepped back a bit behind Thane and watched.

Victor leapt straight up into the air… and started _floating _back down! He should have been falling much faster than that! But what happened next put all thoughts of Victor defying gravity to shame. Victor glowed with Voidlight and drew his right arm back like he was getting ready to hurl a ball. A sphere of violet light appeared in his hand, and he thrust it forward towards Atom's shield. Halfway to the shield it split into three orbs, and each one went off with a spectacular explosion, the force causing the very air to vibrate and nearly knocking Ocena off her feet. Once the smoke cleared she was amazed to see that Atom's shield was still holding! But barely: it winked out a few seconds later.

Victor landed and turned to Ocena with a smile. "And like Atom said: you can do that too!"

Ocena lit up. "That'll be cool! Am I learning that right now?"

Victor's face lit up as well, while Thane smiled. 'At last, some rays of hope and confidence,' he thought to himself.

"We were planning to start your training tomorrow to give you more time to get your bearings," Victor said enthusiastically. "But we can begin the minute you're ready! I will, of course, be tutoring you in the finer arts of controlling the abilities that only we Warlocks are capable of, while Thane trains you in advanced movement techniques and Atom oversees your weapons training." Victor was positively glowing with excitement.

"Hmm… do Guardians just use guns or can we also use swords?"

Atom gave Thane an amused look, whom blushed slightly and shifted on his feet. "We Hunters are known for our skills with combat knives, but we do not use actual swords. Although… my sub-class of Hunter is called 'Bladedancer' for a reason: we charge our knives with Arc energy, or electricity if you will, and…" he broke off in search of an appropriate word. "We flow across the battlefield, and we carve apart our foes. Words are inadequate to describe it."

"Okay. What are the sub-classes for Warlocks?"

Victor stepped forward to answer. "All Warlocks begin by using the Voidwalker discipline: we mimic the Traveler by using a science based around empty space, vacuum, and a unique form of quantum-physics to create Voidlight explosives and even, well, teleport," he finished proudly. "The second, more advanced discipline, and the one I favor the most, is the Sunsinger: we harness the raw power of sunlight itself to incinerate the Traveler's adversaries. Rather than using a projectile like the Voidwalker Novabomb, the Sunsinger super puts us into a state called 'Radiance,' which…like Thane's Bladedancing, is VERY difficult to describe with words," Victor trailed off uncertainly.

Ocena was all but beaming now. "Could I become a Sunsinger?"

"With time and enough training, yes," Victor replied warmly, thrilled that she was so enthusiastic.

"It all really sounds like... like… um…"

"Like something out of a dream or a story?" Thane suggested.

"Yeah. Like that but this feels all too real to be a dream." She mused.

"So uh, shall we head back? I kinda wanna work on my rooms. I have big plans." She said grinning.

"Sure thing; I'm sure we have our own duties to attend to," Victor replied. "When you are ready to begin training, ask Luden to send us a message, and we'll come to find you."

"Alright… um I don't think I recall the way back there… bad sense of direction."

_*"I can take care of that,"*_ Luden spoke up, and Ocena looked up to see her jumpship flying itself over for a pick-up.

"Ah, okay. Well see you guys later." Ocena waved to her friends as they each started on their own way.

Victor waved goodbye with a cheerful smile as his own jumpship flew in and he trans-matted into the cockpit, while Atom just nodded and began to walk in the direction of Twilight Gap while taking out an assault rifle and checking it over. Thane turned to Ocena and gave her a small smile before sweeping into a waist-length bow. Ocena blushed a little at this when a gust of wind suddenly swept a bit of her hair into her face. When she looked again, Thane was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch6

"How did you do that with the flowers and seeds Luden?" Ocena asked her Ghost as she walked back to her room.

Luden hovered after her very pleased with himself. _*"Well there are ways to increase growth speed: it isn't hard."*_

"Clearly." Ocena opened the door to her bedroom and brushed off a small table. Luden gave her a flower pot when she asked for it and she set a rather pretty blue flower in it.

Ocena was interrupted in her caring for the small plant by a voice.

"Hello."

She perked up and turned a little. Why is it she was only meeting men? She would like some female friends. But something in her suddenly rang warning sirens about this guy. Now that she thought about it, he had the same voice as the one she'd heard when the other dark Warlock pushed her back to the crowd.

Wait… hadn't she closed the door to her rooms and bedroom?

"Hi…" She gave the dirt around the flower a few more pats before turning to the man. He was a Warlock from the looks and Awoken.

"Can I help you with something?" She asked making sure she had plenty of room to get away from him or attack.

"Perhaps… I'd been hearing there was a new Guardian that was a Warlock Awoken. A lovely young woman at that."

Ocena frowned not taking the complement while she felt uneasy.

"I don't recall opening my door to you and inviting you in." She said refusing to let him see she was scared.

_*"I remember closing that door you're standing at."* _Luden said hovering closer to Ocena.

"I did knock, you mustn't have heard. Likely focused on your flower there. You have nice hands you know, long fingers."

Ocena was getting the feeling he was flirting with her and he wasn't taking a hint.

"Don't you come in here!" She hissed as he made a move to enter her room. "I did not say you could!"

"Come now, I don't mean any harm."

Luden was starting to wonder if he should send a message to Thane and Victor.

"I don't care if you don't! I didn't invite you in, I don't even know you!" Ocena cried, she felt something welling up in her.

"Oh I'm so sure you'd make that human knock first and invite him in as well." He sneered.

Ocena didn't like that. "Of course I would! Its polite to knock before entering, and if I wasn't busy of course I'd invite him in!"

"What is with you and indulging a human? You're above him."

"What now?! Awoken are just different by look you durak!"

That was her breaking point. No one, no one insulted her friends! She was also still scared, and he was making a move toward her!

He stopped suddenly and paled before he was thrown back by a rippling shockwave in the fabric of reality, which originated from Ocena's attempt to shove him backwards. Without really meaning to, Ocena had just discovered a Voidwalker abillity that Warlocks referred to as the Energy Drain melee, and jolts of void energy ran through him, little sparks of violet running around his body and sapping his strength.

Luden took that time to send a message to Thane and Victor.

*_'Thane, Victor get down to Ocena's rooms now! Don't bother knocking just come here; find that dark Warlock so he can get rid of a pest problem, hurry!'*_

Ocena slumped to the floor gasping, she hadn't meant to do that, and couldn't stop. Some sort of energy was flowing into her body and building up in her arms. She needed help! It wasn't stopping!

"Ugh!" She pushed her hands against the floor to stay up right. She felt her energy sapping away and tried very hard to stop the flow it was hard to do such a thing when you had little control though.

"Ocena?" came Victor's voice as he neared the entrance to her room. "Luden sent me a mess… what in the world!?" Victor took one look at the Warlock groaning on the floor, who was obviously suffering from the effects of a powerful Energy Drain attack, and then at Ocena who had Voidlight gathering around her arms, and accurately guessed what had happened. Wasting no time, he dashed into the room and mentally switched his discipline from Sunsinger to Voidwalker. Being very careful to use as little power as possible, he gave a slight shove with his palm in Ocena's direction, using his own Energy Drain to lessen the amount of power building up in Ocena's arms.

Ocena felt the drain stop slightly before it started again and simply slowed down.

"Victor…what'd I do?" She slumped further tired from what she had done. It all stopped suddenly and the Warlock on the floor was free but didn't get up; he was in a bit too much pain.

There was another set of foot steps, then the dark Warlock was in the doorway. He took one look around and sighed.

"Can't take my eyes off you for one minute can I?" He growled at the man on the floor.

He looked to Ocena and Victor and winced. "I'm sorry for any distress this fool has caused. I'll get him out of here for you."

He hauled the man upright and all but dragged him off muttering, "Should have known better you fool, going after a new Warlock who has little control. Honestly, I should lock you in your rooms for a month…" With that he was gone.

Ocena panted slightly finally starting to feel better. "How did I..? What..?" She was so confused she hadn't tried to do that.

"Glad to know he's still got his eye on him," Victor muttered before turning his attention to Ocena and crouching down to her level. "I'm so sorry Ocena, I know that was probably quite a scare: are you going to be alright?"

Ocena let out a little hiccup and hugged him as she started to cry. She wasn't fully aware of her actions, she was far too upset to be embarrassed for the sudden hug.

Luden sent a silent message to Victor's Ghost then. _*'Perhaps we can show her how to set up a locking mechanism to keep anyone who isn't a close friend or ally out.'*_

It was a good idea and Ocena would feel safer.

"My… 'hic' arms hurt..." Ocena managed through tears.

She shivered as she remembered something that only made her cry harder and move closer to Victor. Victor obligingly wrapped his arms around her in a comforting fashion and gently held her while rubbing her back. "It's going to be alright: I promise that'll be the last time outside of the Crucible that you'll need to defend yourself from one of our fellow Guardians. I'll talk to Ikora Rey about having that moron put on probation." He carefully adopted a more serious tone before continuing. "The pain you feel in your arms is just a bit of pressure from the technique you used to shove your attacker just now: it's nothing to be worried about, and I can help you to safely discharge the energy you've absorbed."

Ocena nodded slowly against his chest. She wasn't going to tell him what she had just recalled… she couldn't.

Victor freed one hand and held it out to the side palm up. A little concentration on his part, and a small orb of void light the size of an apple winked into existence and hovered above his palm.

Ocena struggled to calm herself knowing that being scared wasn't helping the situation. Besides Victor was here he was helping her she didn't need to be scared anymore.

"Have a look at this," Victor gently instructed Ocena. "This is a simple parlor trick that takes absolutely no amount of careful training to master. All that it involves is simply focusing on a point roughly above your palm and concentrating on it while imagining a hole where there ought to be anything else at all. Many Voidwalkers like to use this as a sort of meditation exercise to take their minds off of things that upset them: it only requires enough of your concentration to distract you, but not enough that it leaves you mentally worn out."

Ocena moved back a bit and tried to do what he said. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, Ocena formed a bowl with her hands and focused on a space just above the spot where her hands met. She imagined that the spot was shimmering and going wavey as if heat waves were rising from her palms, and then she pictured the wavy space opening up and revealing a hole that emitted violet light. Nothing happened for a few minutes as she concentrated on the mental image she had formed, but then a small sphere of void light the size of a golf ball flared into existence! Ocena beamed: she was doing it! And the pressure in her arms had almost completely faded away!

"That worked… oh wow so cool, its kinda pretty." She gazed at it distracted from distressing thoughts.

Victor smiled at the fact that she was calming down and let his own void light sphere wink out. "And we haven't even gotten started on the training yet. With practice, you'll be able to utilize this power to defend yourself and your fellow Guardians from the Traveler's enemies. From tiny motes of void light to nova bombs, with time you will grow. And you will have our help along the way," he added cheerfully.

"Thats… really cool." Ocena felt a little dizzy she guessed what she had done before hand wore her out.

_*"Any training may have to wait."* _Luden said hoving close. *_"Ocena looks ready to fall over."* _

Victor nodded in agreement as Ocena's void light sphere guttered and went out. "Ocena, let's postpone your training until tomorrow. Take the rest of the day off to recuperate, and then come find me tomorrow after you've gotten yourself some breakfast in you."

Ocena nodded slowly. She stood to get to her bed and all but fell on it, she was asleep within minutes.

Next day

Ocena frowned trying to make Voidlight. She'd done it before of course but she had never controlled it or done it on purpose. Victor walked up to her in the spot in the Tower that he'd booked to tutor her in, and he smiled warmly when he saw what she was trying to do.

"Hello Ocena," he greeted her so as not to startle her. "Having a little trouble?"

Ocena looked up and nodded a little annoyed. Victor smiled placatingly and created a void light orb in his open hand. "It might be that you are trying too hard: our powers are based on an advanced science, that is true, but through the Light inside of you, you now know this science on an instinctual level. If you just clear your mind and think about what it is you want to do, you should find yourself automatically doing it. It's sort of like breathing after a while: you don't think about doing it, you just do it."

"Okay…" Ocena took a breath and cleared her mind. Only a few minutes later did a bright purple orb come to her hands, only it was bigger than she'd anticipated!

"Eek! What… what now?!" She hadn't thought about what to do with it! It was getting bigger, she tried to keep it close.

Victor spread his hands in a placating manner and tried to appear calm, when in reality he was bracing himself in case there was an explosion of void energy. "A-alright now, let's not get carried away: just feed it less energy and try to use your palms as… magnets, yes, as magnets. Imagine that they are giving off waves that _gently _push the orb and use that to keep the orb in-between your hands."

"Okay…" Ocena tried to do as he said but found it hard. It felt like something wasn't agreeing with being slowed down. The Void Light got brighter and bigger.

"Um! uh… help!"

'Goodness, what a strong reaction!' Victor thought as he spread his hands towards Ocena's void light. 'I'm almost afraid of what will happen when she tries to conjure a void grenade!'Thinking fast, Victor carefully opened up a smaller void orb _inside _of Ocena's orb. The energy draw caused Ocena's orb to quickly shrink before imploding with a small but contained pop that released a shower of harmless sparks. "Maybe we'd better stick to teaching you how to regulate your energy flow first," Victor suggested with a nervous smile.

Ocena nodded. "That… may be a good idea." Clearly she had no control… that wasn't good.

Victor noticed the look on her face. "Don't worry, having trouble controlling your energy flow at first is perfectly normal: just because you now know the science behind void light on a subconscious level doesn't mean you know how to control the Light within you like a master. Until you can create and maintain void light at a stable pace, we'll practice together three hours a day every morning, with one of those hours set aside for me to tutor you in the more refined aspects of being a warrior scholar." Victor smiled. "You may not be able to hold your own in a debate over void mechanics or argue for the existence of Light's interconnectedness, but when I'm done with you, you'll at least know what I'm talking about," Victor added with an amused grin.

Ocena blinked at him then looked down at her hands. "Okay… how do I go about controlling this? I haven't the slightest idea of how to do that."

Victor smiled. "First, start with a deep breath…"

Three Hours later

"That should do it for today," Victor announced. Ocena looked up from the void orb she had been carefully maintaining, sort of sad that training was over for the day. "I think we've covered some good ground for today… although I'm a little put out that you almost dozed off during my lecture on Light mechanics," Victor added crossly.

Ocena flushed. "Sorry… I didn't do too good in schooling… I always got bored and dozed off. My mother was never too happy about that." Ocena looked at the little orb floating around her hands and smiled. 'I wonder…' "Hey Victor? would you mind if I tried something?"

Victor thought for a moment. "Sure, why not? Experimenting with your powers is one of the best ways to make them grow. What do you have in mind?"

"I'm not sure… just a feeling." Ocena replied. She decided to follow the feeling.

Ocena turned with the bright orb and it followed her circling hands, then she spun. The orb followed in the circle she made in place. So it would work then. Interesting.

Ocena moved around a few different ways enjoying how the void light followed her… almost happily and relieved.

"Victor, does our power have thoughts or feelings?" She asked; though it wouldn't surprise her if the powers were like that.

"There are various theories," Victor answered thoughtfully. "Many Warlocks believe that the forces that the Traveler's Light allows us to shape and manipulate have a life of their own, and it is easy to see how this could be true for something like solar energy, considering that all life draws power from the sun in some shape or another. Those who use void energies often say that the void is 'eager' to be conjured into this plane full of matter and substance, and Guardians who use arc energy find a sort of serenity in how simple the energy flows and claim that it has a certain elegance."

"I see… I asked because once I started playing with the void light… it felt happy, relieved." Ocena frowned. "I was a little scared of it when I first faced the Fallen, but now that I'm enjoying my powers its happy?"

"That's certainly one way to look at it," Victor said with a grin. "Our powers, especially the powers of a Warlock, are easily affected by our emotions. Keeping a level head and a positive attitude can go a long way towards keeping our abilities stable, which is just one more reason why we are trying to build your confidence." Victor glanced at the position of the sun. "Goodness me, Is it midday already? I believe that Thane…"

_*"I've got a flash-message from Thane,"* _Luden spoke up suddenly. _*"He says he wants us to meet him at a set of coordinates in the factory district for your lessons, Ocena."*_

"Ah okay," Ocena said letting the void light vanish. To think it'd been so hard to control it a while ago. "Lets go see him shall we? I'm having fun learning about what I can do!" Ocena said bouncing a bit.


	7. Chapter 7

Ch7

Ocena skipped after Luden as he lead the way to Thane. How he knew where exactly Thane was Ocena wasn't sure. They arrived in a part of the factory district down in the City. Most of the buildings here were grey and made of simple architecture, from production plants to warehouses. The area was filled with the sounds of machines and workers busily laboring away at their tasks. Ocena could see them building everything from ship hulls to smaller components and everything in-between. Some of the workers gave Ocena odd looks as she passed, but they didn't bother her and went about their business.

_*"Here we are,"* _Luden spoke up as they reached the side of a large warehouse. *_"These are the coordinates where Thane asked us to meet him. But I don't see him…"*_

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Ocena said. The area was interesting she'd give it that. While she was looking around a crowd of workers moved past her towards an industrial lift on the side of one of the factory buildings. As they passed in-between Ocena and an alleyway, Thane suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of the alley, dressed up in full gear and watching Ocena with the quiet and neutral stare that he was known for.

"Ocena," Thane called out, trying his hardest not to startle her. "Over here."

"Oh!" Ocena turned along with Luden. "There you are." She walked over to him, just managing to keep from skipping.

"It is good to see you," Thane said with a small smile. "I had heard of your encounter with one of your more foolish brethren; I hope you didn't hurt him too dearly." Thane added with a light smile that made it plain that he was joking.

"I might have a little," Ocena replied with a nervous smile. "So anyway, you're going to teach me about movement, right?"

"Indeed," Thane answered with a nod, his expression once again becoming serious. "In battle, where you stand and indeed _how _you stand can often mean the difference between success and failure. When to retreat, when to press forward, how to nimbly hop to the side to avoid a grenade, and the more effective techniques for leaping as far as you can as quickly as you can. In time I will teach you what I know about doing all of these things. But first I must know what I have to work with."

Ocena was confused about what he meant by that, but before she could ask Thane suddenly turned and took off running towards the warehouse behind him at full sprint. Once he was close enough he bent his knees and leapt high into the air, waiting for the exact moment when gravity began to pull him down before somehow seeming to jump a second time in midair, allowing him to land on the roof of the warehouse.

Ocena blinked in surprise. 'I am meant to follow?' She suddenly recalled her father, watching him before he had died. He had been a movement instructor. Ocena knew a few tricks. Noticing a dumpster in the alleyway, Ocena looked from it to a scaffolding attached to the wall opposite it for repairs. From there she began to map out a route in her head until she thought she had a way up. "Well, here goes nothing," she whispered as she took a deep breath for focus. She took off towards the dumpster at a run, crouching just a little as she got close before she leapt up on top of it. From there she carefully spun on her heels and leapt over to the scaffolding, pausing for a moment to adjust her balance before facing her next 'stepping stone' and jumping to it as well. With a smile she saw that she was close to the roof where Thane was standing. There was quite a gap between where she stood and where she needed to land for her last jump, but she remembered when Victor had shown her the Nova Bomb he had also demonstrated an ability that let him float slowly to the ground.

'Okay, Victor was saying something about how void energy is not subject to the same laws of physics as everything in this world. Maybe I can channel a little into my feet to make gravity pull me down more slowly?' It was worth a try. Ocena closed her eyes and reached inside herself for her Light just as Victor had taught her. Once she had found it nestled safely in the center of her being as an orb of warm light, she imagined two small streams of it flowing into her legs. She felt a familiar, almost playful and energetic tingle around her shins and opened her eyes with a smile, as there was a little void light emanating from her feet. Maintaining her concentration, Ocena ran at the last gap and jumped for all she was worth. To her delight she felt as though something fuzzy and cotton like was attached to her legs, causing her to move through the air like a cloud, not flying but falling a little slower than normal. Then she landed on the other side with a small stumble and let the energy fizzle out, looking over at Thane with a pleased smile.

She blushed again when she saw Thane giving her a warm smile she hadn't seen him give before. "Nicely done. That was much better than I'd anticipated. I believe I saw you using a scaled down version of an abillity Warlocks call glide, so it seems that Victor's teaching methods are working well."

"Thanks, I have a good teacher," Ocena said proudly.

"In addition, you were able to perform the smaller jumps and figured out a way up here on your own without any help from me. While your movements are not as precise as a Hunter's or a seasoned Guardian, you move in a way that suggests you at least know what you are doing, which is a _very _good start." Thane paused for a moment and looked thoughtful. "Amnesia aside, do you think it's possible that you've had movement training before?"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure my father was a movement instructor," Ocena admitted. "Although I'm not sure if he trained me or not."

Thane nodded. "Even so, it would seem that your body remembers a few techniques that someone passed to you. This should make training a little easier, but make no mistake: your performance was far from stellar." Ocena's smile fell a little as Thane began to pace around her. "Again, this is to be expected as you are in training, but I mean to train you to the point where much more precise movements become second nature to you. Out in the wild, every movement must be precise and economical: it must take you as far or as fast as possible with the least amount of exertion on your part. We Hunters have this down to an art, so I do not expect you to become as skilled as one, however," Thane smiled impishly, "that does not mean that I won't hold you up to our standards."

Ocena nodded in understanding. "So what do we do now?"

"Crouch."

Ocena blinked for a few moments before bending her knees and crouching down. Thane moved closer and immediately began to critique her.

"Spread your feet apart a little more: you don't want to fall over, and you don't want to waste energy and movement constantly shifting your weight to maintain your balance." Ocena blushed a little at his closeness and moved to do as he said. "In time you need to be able to drop this position at a moments notice in order to duck out of sight and take cover. Once you have progressed in your weapons training with Atom you will need to be able to hold a weapon while in this position and be able to fire without sacrificing your aim in order to balance."

'He said that what my body remembers should make this easy,' Ocena thought frantically as Thane continued to instruct her on her form. 'But this seems like it's going to be harder than I thought!'

One hour of squatting and moving while crouched later Thane called a break. Ocena collapsed onto her backside with a huff: her thighs were killing her from all of that squatting! Thane smiled and passed her a small canteen of water. "Here, drink up and take a breather. When we start again I'm going to be timing you while you run across the rooftops to certain points, so rest while you can."

Ocena sighed a little at the part about running but gratefully accepted the canteen and took a long drink. They sat in the shade of the building next door for a while in silence, with Ocena wondering what she should say and trying not to act nervous. After a while she noticed Thane was looking up at something in the sky. Following his gaze, Ocena searched the afternoon sky for whatever it was that had caught the Hunter's eye.

Then she saw it, and she had to keep herself from gasping. Thane was staring at the moon, but the moon… it looked as though an enormous monster had left three deep claw marks on its surface!

"What… happened there? What could have..?" Ocena recalled as a little girl she loved looking at the stars and moon, she'd had so many pictures of the moon.

"...the Hive." Thane's answer was so quiet that Ocena almost didn't hear it. "Abominations. Unlike the scavenging Fallen, the Hive did not come to our solar system to loot the ruins of our empire. No, they came following the Darkness because they _worship _it. They are foul and vile creatures, a twisted mockery of life, and their hunger is without equal."

Ocena shivered at Thane's words. It wasn't so-much what he was saying as it was the way he said it: she could tell that Thane took this personally. "During the Collapse the Hive entrenched themselves upon earth's moon, and during the centuries in which we erected the first walls and built the City, they delved deep beneath Luna's surface. Now the moon is riddled with their dark catacombs and shrines to depraved gods. At first our order greatly underestimated their numbers and sent scores of Guardians to the moon with the sole aim of driving out the Hive."

Thane bowed his head and closed his eyes mournfully. "It is said that on that day the surface of the moon split open in places, and that rank upon rank of Hive soldiers spilled forth like blood from a rotting wound. We were forced to retreat, to recall and discontinue any missions on the moon. We gave the moon over to the Hive, and ever since that day we dare not return, except to certain key locations that serve as Crucible arenas, if only to remind the Hive that we will not allow them to have the moon in its entirety."

"But it's our moon!" Ocena spoke up defiantly. "I remember pictures of the moon as a perfect white pearl! And we can't do anything to take it back?"

"You are not the only one who feels anger over their occupation of Luna," Thane whispered, and when he opened his eyes Ocena took a step back in shock: his expression was neutral, but his eyes looked so _angry!_ "Many Guardians have ignored orders and foolishly ventured into the catacombs beneath the moon's surface, hoping to discover some secret that will tip the scale in our favor and allow us to drive them out. I am one such fool, and if not for Victor's intervention I am certain that my foolishness would have cost me my life." Thane's expression saddened a little.

"What exactly were you looking for?" Ocena asked in a small voice. Thane glanced over at her, his expression growing even sadder before he looked back up at the moon.

After a few moments of silence he answered her. "A friend. A Warlock like you, who shared my desire to see the Hive destroyed once and for all. She… she left for the moon along with five others, saying that she believed that she had discovered the means to destroy the Hive's greatest champion and god, Crota." Thane shook his head slowly. "They never returned. I searched for her, hoping to at least find her Ghost. When I found nothing I… gave myself over to rage, and my maddened feet carried me to one of the Hive's deepest chambers, where an abomination lay sleeping."

"What… was there?" Ocena asked leaning in a little closer.

"Death. I saw the Hive's fell sorcerers raising a monster of flesh, anger and suffering, molding it into a weapon to use against the Light. I knew on that day that I could not kill it, that I would die if I tried on my own." Thane closed his eyes. "However, I then weighed the value of my life against the value of the lives that might be spared if I could at least delay the Hive's attempts to summon their monster to earth. I found that my life was not greater in value, and so I went to offer my life to spare others from having to experience the horror that the Hive was preparing to unleash."

Ocena couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could he place so little value in his own life? "I can understand sacrificing yourself for someone else," she said crossly, "but how can you make it sound so _natural? _You act as if it was common sense to just throw your life away instead of leaving to get help!"

Thane gave her a small, sad smile. "I was raised to view death differently than most, even before I became a Guardian. From what my memory tells me, I was born into a religious order among the Awoken. We do not necessarily worship death, but we do worship the cyclical ebb and flow of life and death. I was taught from a very early age to make my decisions as carefully as though a single out of place breath could cause the deaths of hundreds. I understand that it may seem cold and uncaring to the uninitiated, but the faithful such as myself are able to find a certain serenity in accepting the reality of death. We must live every moment knowing it could be our last, and we must strive to make every single death serve to renew the cycle."

Thane frowned. "Even so, I was not unhappy when Victor suddenly appeared to help me. He had been chasing a rumor regarding a weapon of great power crafted by the Hive, and his search had lead him to the chamber where I fought. Together we were able to cause enough havoc to disrupt the Hive's summoning ritual, and we were able to escape with our lives; we became fast friends after that incident. Thanks to Victor I lived to continue my service to the Light," Thane smiled warmly while adding, "and I was permitted to meet you."

Ocena smiled and blushed a little. But there was one thing that worried her. "So what about that Hive monster? Is it still..?"

"We could not destroy it," Thane confirmed with a grim frown. "We could only make it so that it would take the Hive a few years before they could make another attempt to send it to earth. In order to destroy the Hive abomination known as Phogoth the Untamed, we would need to let the Hive proceed to a certain point in their summoning ritual, at which point the energies protecting the beast from harm would dissipate. But in doing so, the creature would be able to move and strike back, and such is its power that the Vanguard believes a full Strike team of three Guardians is needed to even stand a chance of destroying it."

Ocena nodded in understanding. "And what about Victor? Did he ever find that weapon he was looking for?"

"We should continue training," Thane said as he rose from his seat. "Atom will be expecting you for weapons training once our time together is up, so we must make the most of your training time." Ocena reluctantly got up and did as he said, wondering why he was avoiding her question.

Only a little a bit later when her training was wrapping up for the day did Ocena try to get more out of Thane. "So, the weapon that Victor was looking for..?" She asked carefully.

Thane frowned. "It was a hand-cannon rumored to have been wielded by a man named Dredgen Yor. Once he was a Guardian, a champion of the Light like us. Then one day, no-one is sure how it happened, but he became a pawn of the Darkness, and now his name is used as a curse. The gun that he had used as a champion of Light is said to have been corrupted and changed when he fell, and that it came to hold great and terrible destructive power. Through careful research, Victor was able to determine some of the places that Yor visited following the time that he was thought to have fallen. That was no small feat, as Yor's travels became most erratic and hard to pin down, with sightings of him sometimes stopping for years on end in the records."

Thane turned to face Ocena. "Victor deduced that Yor still had his weapon with him when he dueld with and was destroyed by Shin Malphur, one of the Renegade Hunters. Their showdown was legendary and is still spoken of with awe to this day. Many believe that Shin destroyed Yor's accursed weapon, while others say that the weapon could not be destroyed. Victor believed the latter to be true, and he theorized that the Hive had ultimately been involved in modifying the weapon during Yor's fall from the Light. Thinking along these lines, Victor was convinced that the weapon's shattered remains were kept in a chamber deep within the Hive temples on the moon. And he was right: we found the broken husk of Yor's dark weapon as we were retreating from the Summoning Pits."

"... What happened to the husk?"

"Victor kept it for study," Thane said crisply, and there was a dangerous light in his eyes that made it clear that the conversation had sparked his anger. "He believed he knew of a way to restore the weapon to working order, something I was against. However, eventually the Speaker himself joined in on the project, believing that there was a way to sever the weapon's connection to the Hive and use its dark power against the Darkness: to fight fire with fire, so to speak. Even so, I feel that Victor should have looked for a way to destroy it rather than mend it."

Ocena flinched from the anger in Thane's eyes; she had definitely hit a nerve. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was such a thorny subject, otherwise I would've left it alone."

To her surprise Thane let out a quiet chuckle. "'Thorny?' Ah forgive me, you do not understand the joke: the weapon that we speak of just so happens to be named 'Thorn.'" His expression softened. "Apologies. I did not mean to snap at you: It is only natural for you to be curious about such things. If you must know, Victor actually gave Thorn to me for safekeeping: he knows how much I despise the weapon for its connection to the Hive, and thus he believed me to be the perfect candidate for keeping it out of the wrong hands." He paused, and a look of uncertainty crept into his expression. "There are times when I have considered testing Victor and the Speaker's theory that Thorn's dark power can be made to serve the Light. But then I remember the teachings of my order: what if some darkness hidden in the weapon should find its way into me? What unspeakable horror could the Darkness commit by using me as its puppet? Is its power worth such a risk?" Thane shook his head. "No. Only a great cause will ever persuade me to take up that accursed weapon."

"...I think I agree with you in that case… who knows what it could do after all." Ocena looked at him a little worried. "Do you carry it around? Do you really think it could overcome you?"

Thane hesitated for a moment before Prayer appeared and transmatted a hand cannon into his hand, but it was unlike any weapon Ocena had ever seen. It was black, with sleek metal that twisted and curved before ending in jagged edges and points. It looked as though the weapon had been warped, as though it once had a different appearance and had been twisted to look the way it did now. There was something else about the gun that Ocena couldn't put her finger on: she sensed some sort of force coming from it that felt a little similar to void energy, only this force felt… _hungry_.

"This is it," Thane whispered. "I dare not leave it in my room; as much as I trust my brethren, I feel that no precautions are too extreme where this weapon is concerned."

"I can understand, this… uh thing could do really bad thin-" Ocena blinked was it glowing emerald green or was that just her? Thane didn't seem to notice so it must be just her. She didn't understand why she felt the sudden need to touch it and stepped back.

"M-make it go away… please."

"Gladly," Thane whispered, and Prayer immediately broke it down into its base component molecules and stored it away. "Are you alright? Victor told me that during the process of repairing it he saw the weapon emit a strange light and he was seized by the urge to touch it." His eyes showed great worry and concern.

Ocena wrapped her arms around herself. "I… felt that…" No, it hadn't just been the need to touch it… "It felt like I needed to hold it to take it…" She shivered, she really didn't want to see it again.

"With luck, that will be the only time you are ever exposed to whatever taint lingers within it," Thane said quietly. "The Speaker was certain that all negative influences had been cleansed. He himself assisted in the process of consecrating it, and even so it appears he may have been wrong. His caution with relics of the Darkness is admirable though, so if even he could not cleanse it completely…"

Ocena wondered why it didn't seem to affect Thane. "It… doesn't do that to you though does it?" Was it because she was a Warlock? No… that couldn't it could it?

Thane went quiet for a while. "I do not know. I have done my best to limit my exposure to it. In fact, I've only held it twice: once when Victor handed it to me, and just now. Even so, perhaps it is already affecting me and I just don't know it yet." Thane looked at her with a troubled expression. "Its original master Yor was supposedly a Warlock. Victor theorizes that it affects certain Guardians differently." Thane snorted and added, "He also thinks that because Yor was defeated by a Hunter, and because that same Hunter shattered Thorn, it cannot affect Hunters. But I have yet to see evidence to support his claims."

Ocena frowned. "It could make sense I guess… but I doubt it." She looked up at the sky spotting the sun. "Been out here for a while."

"Indeed," Thane said, noting the position of the sun. "I believe our time is up for today. Atom is expecting you at a temporary firing range he has set up in one of the look out posts on the wall: he will send you the exact coordinates so you can find him."

"Alright…" Ocena paused. She had wanted to talk to someone about what had happened at her rooms for a while. She was sure it'd been surprising she had broke down like that over something that didn't happen. "Um…"

Thane raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "...Is there something on your mind?"

Ocena wrung her hands looking down. "You know about what happened in my rooms? That guy that came in?"

Thane nodded. "I apologize for not coming to help, but I was meditating out in the farm district when I received Luden's message. I was relieved to learn that Victor had been on his way to see you." He paused. "What of it? Are you afraid that something similar will happen in the future?"

Ocena shook her head. "No that isn't it. The situation made me recall something… unpleasant…" She wasn't sure she was going to get this out but it would be better if she did.

"Just well…"

Thane waited patiently, his eyes silently encouraging her to continue when she was ready.

"When I was… sixteen a good friend of mine his sister was… forced..." She clenched her fits. "I… he told me she was coming from shopping when she was attacked. I was walking with her but forgot something and went back… I found her there all…" Goodness she couldn't do this.

Thane closed his eyes. "The Collapse brought out the very worst in humanity through fear and desperation. However, much as we desire the luxury of turning back the hands of the clock to change things for the better, the past is immutable, carved in stone. All that we can do now is strive to prevent the mistakes of moments elapsed from becoming a part of our future. You are now a Guardian: you are a champion of Light and a protector of the weak. And you are not alone."

"I wasn't back then though!" Ocena cried. "She was so scared of any male after that! Even her own brother! I know even if I had been there with her I might have been hurt too but… but…" She shook her head. "...The guy did get caught though… when her brother talked with him he asked him why? Why would he do that to her? Can you guess what he said?"

Thane remained silent, his expression neutral although his eyes showed sorrow.

"The son of bitch said, 'She was asking for it because of how she was dressed.'... my friend kicked him right where it matters and said, 'Then I guess you were asking for that since you weren't wearing a cap!' He had it coming but it wasn't good enough for my friend. He was all but beating the guy to a bloody mess he was stopped of course."

Still Thane said nothing. He merely bowed his head and closed his eyes. Then he suddenly asked, "What was her name?"

"It was… Selena…She was… schooling to be a doctor."

Thane cupped his hands together. "Kirambo, matron of maidens and shelterer of the innocent: grant that Selena's voice may reach her friend Ocena. Grant that she may offer her words of gladness, kindness and memories of fond days gone by. We thank you for the peace you so lovingly wrap about her like a gown within your warm hall. Almarach Ish-Tan. Farem."

Ocena blinked up at him, then gave a tiny smile. "Thanks for listening, I feel better now."

"I am glad," Thane said with a smile as he finished his prayer and opened his eyes. "The burdens we carry are easily lightened by friends and skilled ears. I am happy to help shoulder your burdens, and I hope you will remember that always."

"I will. Shall I try to find Atom now? Er… I don't know how coordinates work…"

Luden chuckled as he appeared next to her. *_"Don't worry, that's what i'm here for. Atom sent me his coordinates while you were talking with Thane, but I didn't want to interrupt."* _He paused before adding, *_"And Thane's not the only one willing to listen: I'm always here for you too, Ocena."*_

Ocena smiled. "Yeah." She looked back to Thane. "I guess I'll see you later then."

Thane nodded. "Until tomorrow. May Kirambo grant you tranquility." With that Thane rose from where he was seated and stepped backwards off the edge of the roof. Ocena gasped and ran forward as Thane fell, but when she reached the edge he was already on the ground and disappearing around the corner of a nearby warehouse.

_*"I hate it when Hunters do that,"* _Luden said. *_"And Thane's supposed to be one of the least dramatic ones."* _

"I think that's cool. Well, lead the way Luden" Ocena followed after her Ghost as she flew off in her jumpship.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes from the authors: **The training arc of the story is coming to an end: soon Ocena and the others will venture back to the Cosmodrome and the 'main' story will begin in earnest. This chapter will be introducing one of Colette's OCs, who may have appearances in future chapters.

**Ch8**

"Welcome to weapons training day one," Atom announced firmly as Ocena took a few steps into the firing range that he had set up in one of the lookout towers on the wall. "Victor can teach you new magic tricks, and Thane can teach you how to move fancy. But no-other class of Guardian knows good guns like we Titans do, so I'm the best you're gonna get by way of instruction short of a trip to the Crucible."

Ocena was a little intimidated by the steel in his voice, but did her best to nod to show that she understood.

"Now, Luden tells me that you shook like a leaf the first time ya' held a gun," Atom went on as he walked over to a bench with different guns carefully laid out on it. "From what little we have to go on from your memories, you weren't no soldier, so that's pretty reasonable. Even so, I'm gonna drill you hard and fast the only way a Titan knows how. Our lessons will be harsh, repetitive, and by the end I guarantee that you'll get the urge to nova bomb my ass once or twice." He turned to give her a cheeky smile. "Whatever you were before, you're a Guardian now, an' Guardians don't get very far without knowin' how to use a gun. So, first thing's first," he picked up an assault rifle from the bench. "This is an assault rifle…"

**A few hours later…**

"Again!" Atom barked, causing Ocena to grit her teeth in frustration as she once again hefted the assault rifle Atom had given her and aimed at the mannequin on the other side of the shooting range. Ocena had no idea how long they had been at this. She could tell though she was holding weapons correctly now, her aim was a little a better but the targets weren't coming at her to kill her so she couldn't be sure just how much better she was. But Atom was working on her last nerve right now. She didn't do well with getting orders or instructions barked at her or the annoying hovering he was doing. She was glad she had better control over her skills now, otherwise she feared she would have knocked Atom back or worse by now. _Just bear with it._ She thought, trying to keep a hold of her emotions. It wouldn't do to hurt Atom.

"Alright, that'll do for now," Atom said as the last mannequin fell over with its chest full of bullet holes. "Put the safety catch on an' take a break." Ocena eagerly complied and set the rifle back down on the bench with a huff. Atom sat down on a small crate nearby and patted a crate next to him indicating for Ocena to sit. She did so warily, and as she did so he handed her some sort of bar wrapped in what she guessed was plastic. "It's a field-ration bar," Atom explained in response to her questioning glance. "Figured you might be gettin' hungry by now. 'Supposed to taste like some kinda fruit accordin' to humans and awoken."

***"But we're also told that the taste could be a lot better,"* **chipped in Atom's Ghost Neutron as he materialized above Atom's shoulder. ***"I'm afraid they're made to pack as much calories and nutrients into as small a space as possible, so flavor is pretty much an after-thought,"* **Neutron added apologetically.

Ocena eyed the ration bar before unwrapping it and taking a cautious bite. It was tough and a bit hard to chew, not to mention it was pretty dry, and like Neutron had warned her there was only the hint of what might be a sweet fruit. Still, she thought it could have tasted a whole lot worse and managed to grind it down to a fine mush and swallow it after a dozen chews.

"Bleh, I've tasted better," Ocena said frankly. "But I think I've had worse too."

Atom nodded. "I'll take your word for it. Anyhow, you'll be glad to hear that our little torture- I mean, training session's nearly over for the day," Atom said with a playful grin. "And I gotta say, you're doin' better than I woulda' expected."

Ocena's expression brightened as she swallowed another bite. "Really? From how often you were correcting me I thought I wasn't doing so well."

"Well yeah, you've still got a long way to go," Atom said bluntly. "But what's important is that you're learnin' quick and respondin' to my teaching methods. You obviously don't like 'em, I can see that plain as day, but you do what I say regardless, and that's savin' us both some time and frustration. Not to mention that you're takin' your frustration and channelin' it to all the right places so that it doesn't interfere with your shots. Bein' able to keep a cool head is a useful quality to have, and there are plenty of senior Guardians who don't quite have that down to an art just yet."

Ocena smiled a little as she washed down the last of the ration bar with a gulp of water from a canteen she'd bought on her way over. She'd have to see if she could think of a batter ration, there were low chances she was eating that again unless she had no other option.

"Okay I think I'm good now, shall we continue?" Ocena perked up when she realized Luden hadn't popped up in a while.

"Luden?"

The Ghost suddenly appeared. _*"Yes? How is the training going?"*_

"Fine, where have you been?"

_*"Setting up a locking mechanism on your rooms to keep anyone but friends out."*_

"Oh… I see." Ocena looked back to Atom. "So let's keep going."

Three weeks would pass by in this manner, with Ocena spending every one of those days training hard alongside her new friends. From Victor she learned how to regulate and control the incredible science-sorcery at her disposal and learned about some of the most popular theories and fields of study. From Thane she learned how to move as fast as possible and how to stand as still as possible using the least amount of energy, while Atom helped teach her the best aiming techniques and which types of guns suited her best.

Now Ocena was doing a bit of relaxing before she went out training. This typically entailed being childish with her Ghost by playing hide and seek.

"Okay Luden, you stay there, and count to twenty." Ocena said to her as she had him face a wall.

_*"Alright, alright. I'm starting now. One, two-"*_

Ocena quickly darted off to hide. This was childish she knew that, but… she didn't recall a lot of her childhood yet, so why not play now a little? Ocena ducked into a dark corner and curled in on herself to be tinier. She tried not to chuckle as she wondered if this was something Thane or the other Hunters sometimes did to make themselves scarce. Then she noticed someone beside her.

"Hello."

Ocena received no response from the dark haired woman for a moment.

Finally she spoke. "What are you doing there, Warlock?"

"I'm hiding from Luden, my Ghost. We're playing hide and seek you see."

The woman blinked at her. "That… explains why you're in the shadows like a Hunter."

***"Avi"***the woman turned her head to her Ghost. ***"I just got a message about a scouting run, you've been invited."***

"That a fact?" Avi asked with mild curiosity. "What is going on?"

***"I didn't get any details."***

Avi closed her eyes and brushed a few stray locks of hair out of her face. "Not interested then."

_*"Found you."* _Luden said suddenly hovering by Ocena's shoulder.

"Ah, darn! Thought I had you that time." Ocena said with a playful whine. She looked back to the Hunter, who was now watching her and Luden with curiosity.

"Oh, um I'm Ocena, this is Luden." She pointed to her Ghost.

The dark haired woman didn't reply for a good ten minutes."I'm Avi, he's Peter."

Ocena smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you. Say, do you by any chance know Thane?"

"Not really, we've crossed paths, and perhaps worked together a few times but we aren't friends of any kind… I only know him by reputation. I suppose you're friends with him?"

"Yup. Victor and Atom too!"

The two Ghosts decided to chat as well. Avi would deny it but she was lonely and Ocena being who she was, was rather easy to be friends with.

***"Another invite, Avi. I've got some concrete details for this one."***

"Alright." Avi paused in leaving to look at Ocena. "Suppose I'll see you around."

"I hope so. I need some female friends."

Avi didn't reply, and simply walked off. Peter was telling her something about the mission request being from Dead Orbit, and that it involved an expedition into old Russia.

"Hmm… I was hoping to at least get some kind of smile out of her," Ocena said with a frown. "Avi seemed kinda sad."

_*"Not too surprising. Ever since she got to the Tower she's been a bigger loner than any other hunter. Even Thane is thought to be more social than she is. She only has allies in battle or scouting, and she doesn't seem to do much when she isn't doing either of those tasks."*_

"That has to be lonely."

_*"Ocena don't, try too hard to be friends with her okay? She might snap at you."*_

"I handled Atom's lessons pretty well I think I can handle Avi. By the way did you finish the calendar?"

_*"Yes… Ocena when is your birthday?"*_

Ocena thought about it for a moment. "I think… it was sometime in December."

_*"Have to make a new day until you can remember the real one."*_

"I guess, are birthdays still a huge thing?"

_*"Yes, more so now. Most Guardians don't pay attention that I've noticed. But I think a few friends of yours would have a fun time giving you a birthday party."*_

Ocean laughed. "Yeah sure they would. Hey come on lets head back to my rooms, I think I've almost gotten a new better ration bar to work out."

Luden followed after Ocena as she rushed back to her rooms; those lessons from Thane had paid off. She didn't trip or run into anyone anymore as she gracefully moved around whatever was in her path now. She was just about to reaching the living quarters part of the Tower when she caught sight of Victor Thane and Atom heading in the same direction ahead of her.

"Hey guys!" Ocena called out. "What's up?"

"Ah, Ocena!" Victor greeted her with a smile. "Just who we were looking for. How would you feel about making a trip out into the field?"

"Um… Am I ready for that?" Ocena honestly wasn't sure.

"It'd just be a quick run to the Cosmodrome to look for salvage," Atom said confidently. "Your ship doesn't have a jump drive. Without one, there's no way you'll be able to leave earth, and believe me, the worst fighting's way beyond earth."

"No-one is making you go if you do not feel you are ready," Thane quietly reassured her. "But you have shown tremendous progress over these past few weeks, and we wanted to give you the chance to put your training to the test."

Luden popped up then. _*"Going would be a good idea. The ship does need a jump drive, and the best bet for finding one is there."*_

"Well…" Ocena considered a moment. "I'll go. I won't be alone after all."

"Of course you won't," Victor said with a warm smile. "You have us now. This won't be anything like the first time you faced the Fallen: you're ready now. All of us are sure of it."

Atom gave Ocena a confident smile. "Besides, even on the off chance that you aren't as ready as you need to be, you're bringing friends with big guns. What's the worst that could happen?"

Victor groaned. "There's an old superstition that saying such a thing is what's known as 'inviting disaster.'"

Atom waved his hand dismissively. "Forget about it, disaster can come invited or uninvited for all the good it'll do: we've got ammo."

"There's no reasoning with him when he gets like this," Thane whispered to Ocena. "But at least we know that his confidence isn't misplaced: I for one can vouch for his skill."

Ocena just smiled and nodded. She could handle the Fallen now. She knew what she was doing and how to do some new things and lastly she had friends to back her up.

"Let's go then."


	9. Chapter 9

**Ch9**

**Note From Authors ColetteJH: **I'm going to be taking a break from the fanfic for a while as I'm running out of ideas and should focus on other things. Sorry. Oh another thing thank Eltyr for the great fighting scenes!

**Eltyr: **Like Colette said, she'll be taking a break, so expect for there to be a delay between now and the next chapter. To compensate, this chapter is extra-large and full of awesome! Hope you all enjoy, and don't forget to review!

_*"There is so little left out here,"* _Luden said as their ship flew in formation with the others through the upper atmosphere._ *"We were lucky to even find this ship. A Guardian can't do much to protect the City without one. But, it needs a warp drive if we ever hope to fight beyond Earth, and that Cosmodrome is the only place I know where we might still find one. We survived the Fallen once... we can do it again."* _Luden said as Ocena got ready to descend.

"Well no worries Luden, we aren't alone this time," Ocena said cheerfully as her ship and her friend's ships began to descend towards the ground. The ruined Cosmodrome soon came into view as the four ships came in low and decelerated for a drop-off.

Ocena soon found herself transmatted onto the ground, her friends quickly materializing around her.

_*"A Guardian ship was recently shot down here. If the Fallen haven't gotten to it yet there might be parts we can scavenge."*_

"Um… which way?" Ocena asked looking around.

_*"I can lead you: just hold me in your hand… yes like that and…"*_

"Whoa… oh! Over there!" That was useful! Ocena looked to her friends. "Anything I should know before we start moving?"

"Well, you remember what I said about taking hits, right?" Atom asked as he checked his assault rifle.

Ocena frowned in concentration. "I think so: a Guardian's Light reinforces their armor and protects them from harm to some extent, and it also automatically causes most wounds to heal if they don't get hit for a while. If I get hit too often my Light won't be able to protect me, and I'll have to take cover while my Light recovers, right?"

Atom grunted in satisfaction. "That's the gist of it, or at least the important parts. Remember that as a Warlock your Light will recover _way_ faster than a Hunter's or a Titan's, but it won't give you as much protection up front as if you were a Titan. Just remember: Warlocks recover, Titans can take it, and Hunters dodge."

Thane chuckled quietly. "We do indeed."

"Also, don't forget that some of your powers will need some time to 'cool down' once they're used," Victor spoke up. "You know how draining it can be to conjure void light for sustained periods of time, so you'll need to wait half a minute after you use a void grenade before you can make another one. Gliding on the other hand requires far less effort, as you know, so you should have no problem using that repetitively."

"Finally, keep your eyes open," Thane said. "There are still many valuable artifacts and rarities to be found amidst the ruins of our Golden Age. Glimmer caches, weapons stored away for the Collapse, and even Golden Age technology may be found as long as you keep your eyes open and look while seeing."

"Okay I think I got it all. Shall we head over to the ship then?" Ocena asked. She wondered what all could be found here. If a jump drive or whatever it was called was found then cool, but she wanted to wander about to see what could be found.

For an area that was in ruins and was infested with Fallen, Ocena thought the area was pretty. Some hardy signs of vegetation could be seen here and there stubbornly sprouting up through the snow; she always loved plants. A hazy memory came back to her: helping her mother take care of the flower garden and a few fruit trees on the small farm they had.

Ocena shook herself out of the memory and crept forward, following Thane's example in movement. She paused though, getting an odd prickly feeling as she looked around. Were they being watched? The Fallen didn't seem to notice them yet… plus those Fallen were pretty far away still. As they moved Ocena was careful not to get distracted by the plant life. But darn it, when she wasn't on a mission she would have to come back and nab some to plant back home.

"Whoa, there are a whole lot of Fallen over there," Ocena said as they walked up a hill. The Fallen were around some kind of building. She didn't think it was necessary to kill them as they weren't spotted yet but... "What's that bush looking thing there?" Ocena whispered while pointing to an odd, blue silvery plant. The Fallen were all over that area so she couldn't get a closer look unless she wanted to end them.

"Is that..?" Victor wondered out loud as he crept closer at a crouch. "It is! What do you know: spinmetal colonies all the way out here!"

"Spin-what?" Ocena asked.

"Spinmetal," Atom clarified. "It's a type of composite metal. It's really lightweight but tough at the same time, and the metal actually 'grows' like a plant cuz' its made by rouge colonies of nano machines designed during the Golden Age. The machines were left to wander after the Collapse, and now they're just doin' what they were designed to do an' buldin' small structures out of themselves. If ya' pluck the leaves off one of the 'plants' new ones will grow back in a matter of days, and the leaves are useful for making improvements to weapons and armor."

Machines that grew like plants? Victor had tutored her about the Golden Age, but it was times like these that really made Ocena realize how fantastic the Golden Age must have been. Now she really wanted to get to the spinmetal, but the Fallen were in her way…

Thane couldn't see Ocena's face behind her helmet but knew what she was thinking. "Let's make getting to that spinmetal an exercise," he suggested. "Ocena, I count exactly five Dregs and one Vandal."

"The Dregs are the ones with two arms; the Vandal is the one with four arms wearin' the helmet and cape," Atom clarified. "Interesting fact: Fallen are supposed to have four arms, but Dregs only have two. The reason for this?" Atom's tone became harsh, laced with bitter disgust. "Because they've been chopped off. When a Fallen falls too low on their House's social ladder, they reach the rank of Dreg, which is as low as it gets, and to emphasize their shame an' disgrace the higher-ranks have their secondary arms cut off."  
"That's monstrous!" Ocena hissed.

"Wait, it gets better," Atom went on gruffly. "Normally the arms would regrow. But the higher-ups and nobility have special cuffs put on the severed limbs to keep them from growing back. Only by earning enough honor to climb above the rank of Dreg can a Fallen ever hope to get permission to re-grow its arms. As a rule, all Dregs are desperate to gain honor, so they'll fight you with everything they've got, cuz' as far as they're concerned they've got nothin' left to lose. The Vandal is a different story: he's higher ranked than a Dreg so he calls the shots whenever there isn't someone nearby that outranks him. He's better armed than a Dreg because of his rank to: a Dreg usually just has shock daggers and shock pistols, with a shock grenade if he's been doin' good lately. A Vandal commonly has a shock rifle and a shock dagger, maybe a wire rifle if he's a particularly good shot."

"So here's your task, Ocena," Victor said brightly. "Which one would you attack first, and how?"

Ocena stared at the group of Fallen and thought for a few moments. Noticing that three of the Dregs were near the Vandal, she created a void grenade in her right hand and threw it at the Vandal as hard as she could. Not waiting to see what happened, she stood up and aimed her assault rifle at the chest of one of the Dregs farther from the group, squeezing the trigger and letting loose a burst of gunfire as she heard her grenade explode. In the corner of her vision she saw three of the Dregs float back through the air, the bonds of gravity distorted as their bodies were broken down by void light. The Vandal was still alive but was reeling from the explosion. Turning her attention back to the Dreg in front of her, Ocena saw her shots impact its chest and tear oozing holes in it, and it shrieked in pain before crumpling over dead.

She whirled around back to the Vandal, who by now had recovered and was firing his shock rifle at her, the last Dreg crouched behind him and reaching for something on its belt. Ocena saw the bolts of arc energy sail through the air, occasionally swerving to zero in on her position. She took a deep breath and ran _towards _the Fallen, her heart racing as the shots closed in. She saw the Dreg hefting a shock grenade and preparing to throw it at her. A voice in her head told her _now! _and she dropped, sliding forward the way Thane had taught her, the arc blasts sailing over her head along with the shock grenade. The Vandal hissed in surprise as Ocena scrambled to her feet, two of its arms going to its belt and grasping a pair of hilts that were probably shock daggers. Ocena gathered her Light into her right hand and thrust her open palm out at the Vandal. Reality rippled and surged with void energy, and the Vandal howled as its body was consumed by Ocena's energy drain. Ocena's heart leapt in triumph as she turned to the last Dreg and emptied her assault rifle into it. She took a few breaths to calm herself and glanced back over at her friends, whom were making their way over to her.

Atom let out a whoop and applauded her. "We have a winner! Not bad at all, kid!"

"_Very _nicely done," Victor agreed. "I give that performance a solid ten out of ten."

Thane nodded at her. "You see? You are ready, Ocena."

Ocena beamed happy that she had done well. "I'm gonna get this now." Ocena walked over to the spinmetal and started taking it; Luden de-materialized it as soon as she was done.

"You know, when I first fought the Fallen I did notice the Dreg were weaker than the Vandal. When I meeled the Dreg it died instantly, but not the Vandal… That might be a good way for me to save ammo if there are more Dreg than anything else."

"That would typically work," Victor admitted. "But some Dregs are tougher than others, just as some Vandals are tougher than others. My point is not to lump them all into the same category in terms of durability."

Ocena nodded to show that she understood. Speaking of ammo Ocena did a quick reload then had Luden hover over her hand to show her the way again. The ship was behind them just past the shed looking thing.

"Alright it's this way." Ocena said leading the way. She had noted that her friends mostly let her lead and she was glad for that. She didn't mind having back up if it was needed, but she didn't want to be guarded like some frail princess. She was glad they knew she wouldn't like that… though she guessed they had other reasons.

Ocena paused seeing something on a shelf of the shed. She got a closer look and saw it was a Ghost, but it wasn't moving. "Oh no… is it dead?"

All of her friends let out sad sighs. "Looks that way," Atom said mournfully. "This is what happens when a Guardian dies for good: the Light left in their Ghost is devoured, and all ya' have left is a shell."

"There is a way to save it though," Victor said cryptically, causing Ocena to turn towards him in curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"Touch it," Victor urged her gently. "The Light within you will heal it." She reached to touch it and it glowed. It's eye flickered back to life once more before it vanished.

"What…?" She looked to her friends confused.

"No-one is sure what happens to them once they vanish," Thane confessed.

"Well," Victor eagerly cut in, "those who support the Theory of Interconnectivity stipulate that the Light of a Guardian rekindles the Light left in a dead Ghost long enough for it to reach out to the Traveler. The Traveler then feels the Ghost and takes it back into itself, like a parent consoling its lost child," Victor added affectionately. "Some believe that these Ghosts eventually re-emerge from the Traveler to find a new Guardian, but no-one knows for sure."

***"Sometimes the Ghost of a Guardian who revives a dead Ghost receives a memory fragment from it,"* **Idea stated from Victor's shoulder. ***"You should check with Luden after we get back to the Tower."***

Ocena figured she would. She would look out for other dead Ghosts to save them too.

She could already see the Guardian ship crashed and mostly destroyed. Two Vandals, a Dreg and… some flying robot. Off to the right she could see a small bit of water... and more spinmetal! Ocena quickly snuck over to collect it before moving to handle the Fallen, she didn't get as lucky not getting hurt this time though. One of the Vandal had managed to her with its knife but she took it out.

"Goodness that hurts…" She said looking at the wound on her left arm. As she watched Light began to wrap around the tear in her sleeve, and her cut and the tear began to seal up as if nothing had happened.

"That's… something else." She could get to the ship now.

"Um before I get any closer, do Fallen ever leave traps?" She asked a little worried.

"Sometimes," Atom muttered. "I've seen reports of them using laser trip-wire grids to block of places they don't want anyone gettin' into. It takes some hard to find tech for 'em to do that though, so they rarely do that. What we really need to watch for is an ambush."

"Fallen do not prefer straight up fights," Thane explained. "But then, neither do we Hunters, so I know of some of the methods they might try to use to surprise us."

"Alright guess we're clear then."

_*"Send me over and I'll scan the ship."* _Luden said.

Ocena had Luden hover in her hand then allowed him to drift over the ship to scan it.

_*"The ships avionics are completely catatonic. But I can cull their last transmission."*_

Ocena couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on, too much disturbance.

_*"They managed to restore an information hub here. Down in the tunnels below. We should go check it out."_

Ocena had Luden show them the way. The Cosmodrome Network was in the building Ocena had taken the Fallen out at.

"Back this way it seems." Ocena said once more taking the lead. She kind of liked missions she guessed. They went down the stairs and Ocena explored and found a box with supplies. New armor and twenty Glimmer.

"Should I use the armor right away or wait until we're done?" Ocena asked. Not sure what to do.

"Is the protection rating better than what you have on now?" Victor asked. "If so, you can have Luden instantaneously switch it out for you."

Ocena looked it over and noticed, yes it was better. "Luden help me out?"

_*"On it."*_

In only a few second Ocena had the new armor on. "That is cool."

A bit further down in the building it was darker and a small number of Fallen were down there: nothing that wasn't easily taken care of. Then Luden did his scanning again on an active data console.

_*"A map of the entire area. What we really need to find is a warp drive, so we can jump to any planet or moon. Our only hope is where we found our ship. We have to go back."_

"Lovely…" Ocena said softly. She hoped she didn't get a nasty flashback going back there.

Ocena lead the way back up, hearing an odd sound she looked up to see a Fallen ship. _Bad feeling; let's move._ She thought quickly moving off. _Oh more spin metal._

Ocena made a mistake of wandering off without her friends while Victor and Atom were taking a quick survey of some of the working computer consoles in one of the buildings. Ocena was better than she had been for sure, but there were always reasons to go in groups.

A few moments after Ocena had left Thane realized that, aside from the sound of Neutron and Idea data-mining an old console bank and Victor and Atom debating the probability of finding tactical data, there was no other sound. By now, Ocena should have posed a question as to what they were doing. Thane spun around, and his heart lurched in his chest when he could not immediately see Ocena.

"She is gone…" Victor looked up when he heard Thane use that peculiar tone that somehow drew all eyes to him without ever rising above the volume of a mutter. His eyes widened when he realized what Thane meant, and Atom let out a heart-felt curse as the three of them took off running, determined to find Ocena before trouble found her.

Ocena collected the spin metal carefully, but then she heard an odd sound behind her and turned her head, just in time for a sword to lash across her back.

_*"Ocena!"* _Luden cried as he quickly caught her mind to hold onto her. The large Captain moved on when Ocena was down, smaller enemies following it.

_*"Atom, Victor, Thane anyone! __**Guardian down!**__"* _Luden called. He didn't know how long he could hold Ocena but the three better hurry! He could feel a little of the Traveler's Light from here, so that meant they weren't in a Dark Zone and weren't in immediate danger of being devoured, but still…

Ocena was still aware of what was going on as she seemed to hang there in a weird limbo inside Luden. She oddly didn't feel too afraid, although she was still jolted by the pain of the Fallen Captain _killing _her! Then her friends arrived, and things got… impressive. The first thing that happened was that Thane appeared behind the Captain. Ocena watched him literally appear out of nowhere behind the large Fallen, no weapon drawn as he took another step closer. As fast as a pair of snakes Thane's arms shot out and seized the Captain on both sides of his head. The Captain didn't even have time to react as Thane immediately wrenched its head to the side and _twisted_. There was a sickening crack as the Captain's spine snapped and its windpipe was crushed, white smoke that Atom told her was called Ether leaking out of cracks in the exoskeleton as the Captain fell to the ground dead.

The remaining Fallen took notice of their leader's death and turned to screech angrily at Thane. While this was happening Victor crept quietly up to Luden and extended his hand. In less than three seconds Ocena's dead body vanished and a revived Ocena re-materialized, stumbling back only for Victor to catch her. "Easy," he soothed, "I've got you, you're alright."

Before anyone else could speak Atom made his presence known: something big and heavily armored leapt into the air from a ridge overlooking the Fallen, the sun's glare reducing Atom to an indistinct dark shape as the Fallen squinted and tried to shoot him. Then Atom clenched his fists and… _dropped._ It was like he had suddenly gained a thousand pounds, and when he landed he slammed his fists into the ground. He may as well have been a bolt of lightning: arc energy exploded out from Atom's impact point as a blast wave, annihilating the Fallen and leaving the ground crackling with runaway electricity. A few brightly glowing orbs were discharged from Atom's body as he straightened up and strafed the area with his assault rifle before calling out "Clear!"

Ocena blinked a little dazed… and her back hurting a bit. "...I… didn't even see it… coming… or hear it…" Well that wasn't true she had heard it; just a tad too late.

"Oh, thank the Traveler!" Victor sighed in relief. "You scared us half to death! Please say something next time you get the urge to wander off!"

"Not that we aren't happy to take out the trash," Atom added as he jogged over to them. "But we'd rather not have to revive you: dyin' hurts."

Thane said nothing, merely gazing down at the Captain that lay dead at his feet.

Ocena lowered her head meekly. "Sorry…I'll try not to do that again."

"We are simply happy that we were in time," Thane said at last.

_*"If you are alright we can keep moving."*_ Luden said.

"Yeah I'm okay…" Ocena looked over to where they needed to go. A building, a rather large one.

"This way then…" Ocena lead the way making sure to stay near her friends this time. She noticed a supply box above them. "Um… how are we meant to get that?" She asked.

"Like so," Thane replied. He sprinted towards the ledge, jumped, and then jumped again at the height of his first jump. After landing he turned around and crouched down to hold his hand out. "Jump. I will catch you and pull you up."

Ocena jumped up and Thane caught her helping her up. "Let's see... oh a fusion rifle and more Glimmer!"

"Well there's good news," Atom called up from where he and Victor stood below. "I seem to recall you bein' a pretty good shot with those during training."

Ocena beamed. She recalled the same thing. "So uh… if we hop down we won't get hurt right?"

"Not from this height," Thane replied confidently as he himself dropped to the ground and landed in a crouch.

Ocena hopped down after him then lead the way into the building.

"Gosh, I wish I could have seen this place before it was ruined… though I might have and just can't recall." Ocena said looking around. "Is there anyone around who does remember it?" She asked.

"A little," she was surprised that it was Atom who spoke up. "Mostly I remember comin' through here with my squad. We were a buncha Exos who volunteered for a suicide mission to cause some serious havoc in Fallen territory to buy time for the first Titans to finish the wall around the City." He paused. "I lost a lotta friends here, a long time ago…"

Ocea frowned. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have asked…"

"Hey, don't sweat it kid," Atom said while giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "I made my peace with the past a long time ago. I honor my friends by crackin' as many Fallen skulls as I can… and by makin' sure my new friends stay intact, of course," he added cheerfully.

_*"Scanning for warp drive. Bad news: It's already in Fallen hands."*_

"Of stinking course…" Ocena sighed. "Well, not like we can ask for it politely."

"Don't worry," Atom said as he withdrew a shotgun and cocked it. "I'm real good at persuasive speeches."

Ocena grinned. "I don't doubt it."

Walking a bit further Ocena passed through a doorway and froze up.

_*"I hope you're ready for this."*_

_I suddenly get the feeling I'm not._ Ocena thought. She didn't like the feeling she was getting. It was like… there was no light.

Thane froze. "Darkness Zone. The Darkness is concentrated here: if we are killed, and are not revived in time…"

"Don't worry," Victor cut in defiiantly. "If anyone _is _killed I'll soon have them back on their feet." He tapped his helmet, which looked like it had wingtips on it, as if to emphasize a point.

"Um…" Ocea really wasn't feeling good about this. Part of her wanted to turn tail and run while the other was ready to destroy any Fallen in her path.

They emerged in an underground area that was a bit more open than the rest of the complex. There didn't seem to be any Fallen nearby, and they could see a pile of looted mechanical parts, one of which might have been a warp drive. They carefully moved closer to it, but then…

_*"It's in the walls!"* _Luden suddenly squawked. For a moment Ocena had no idea what he was going on about: then she saw it. A Fallen even bigger than that one Captain… in fact, she realized with a start that she recognized it! It had been the one leading the Fallen that were chasing her when she first found her ship! It had a scar of purple cracks running along its neck, which might have been leftover from the void grenade she threw at it to get away. Unfortunately it recognized her too, and it let out a hate-filled roar when it saw her.

Atom swore loudly. "Freakin' _Archon!" _he shouted, which Ocena didn't understand but guessed it was really bad. Before her friends could move closer the Archon let out a loud wail, and dozens of Fallen flooded into the room! Ocena's friends immediately unloaded on the incoming Fallen, leaving her to square off with the Archon.

The Archon leveled a massive gun at Ocena and roared as it advanced, causing her to backpedal as she readied a void grenade. She saw the Archon tense up at the sight of the grenade, and made the split second decision to throw the grenade at its left. Her intuition paid-off as the Archon tried to leap to the left to avoid the grenade, only to move directly into its path and into the explosion. Ocena quickly hid behind a column, narrowly avoiding the return fire as she took out her fusion rifle. She lightly squeezed the trigger again and again, using a trick Atom had taught her to make the gun constantly charge up half-way so that she could fire at a moment's notice. She then whipped around and took aim at the Archon, firing a burst of solar energy at it and causing it to grunt in pain. She fired several bursts at it before its own shots broke through her armor, forcing her to duck behind a pillar again. While she recovered she noticed Victor backing up her way while firing at an advancing crowd of Fallen: she'd never seen so many! It was all her friends could do to keep them from swarming in and interfering with her duel against the Archon!

Suddenly Victor bellowed really loud, causing Ocena to jump as flames erupted around his body! She felt some sort of warmth enter her body, and suddenly her void grenade recharged earlier than normal! Victor then charged the Fallen like a madman, bellowing something about the Traveler's Light purging them and chucking several flaming grenades! It was like his grenades were automatically recharging! Ocena tore her eyes away from this and quickly lobbed another void grenade at the Archon. It was getting weaker, she just needed a little more time. She emptied the magazine of her assault rifle into the Archon and then switched to her fusion rifle to fire one final burst.

But it wasn't enough! The Archon roared and suddenly stepped closer, slamming the ground and knocking Ocena away. Ocena grit her teeth and balled her hands into fists: that was it! She'd had it being afraid of these things! Void light gathered around her as she jumped into the air and gathered all of her Light into her right hand. She pulled back, and let loose a nova bomb that would make any voidwalker proud, pulverizing the Archon with a blast of vacuum and angry quantum energy.

Ocena blinked: the Archon was dying! It let out a wail as it fell to its feet, Ether leaking from its wounds as it finally went still. The remaining Fallen let out cries of despair and quickly retreated, leaving Ocena's friends to stare at her in wonder.

_*"You just killed an Archon, and we got a warp drive. This could cripple the Fallen! We need to see the Speaker." _Luden said.

"That…" Ocena breathed. "Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"'Wasn't as bad?'" Atom repeated mutely. "Girl, that wasn't bad for most senior Guardians! There's only three or so ranks above an Archon in Fallen society! You just killed one of their bigwigs! Oh man, Luden's got it pegged: this'll _really_ put the fear of the Light in em'!" Atom was positively jubilant.

"You did… phenomenal… on your own…" Victor panted. "Ah… I apologize if I said anything odd while in my radiance state…"

Thane merely offered her a silence that still managed to tell that he was smiling as he rested a hand on Ocena's shoulder.

"So uh… shall we head back? I feel a little tired after that. I guess I should see the Speaker."

After collecting the warp drive, the four Guardians' Ghosts summoned their jumpships from orbit and transmatted them inside. From there they spent the short flight back to the Tower eagerly discussing the findings of their trip, especially the implications of their blow to the Fallen house of Devils. Before long they landed at the Tower, and Ocena made her way to see the Speaker.

Ocena walked into the large area looking around. The Speaker worked around here? Wow. There was an enormous instrument like a telescope or something, only it was scanning some sort of hologram.

"There was a time when we were much more powerful." The Speaker said coming down some stairs. "But that was long ago."

Ocena turned to him, Luden hovering close to her. "Until it wakes and finds its voice, I am the one who speaks for the Traveler. You must have no end of questions Guardian." He said. Ocena followed him as he walked a little. She looked up at the Traveler feeling bad for it. She wondered if it was in pain.

"In its dying breath the Traveler created the Ghosts," Luden flew up to look clearly at the very thing that had made him and other Ghosts. "To seek out those who can wield its light as a weapon - Guardians," he clarified cheerfully, "to protect us. And do what the Traveler itself... no longer can," he finished sadly.

"What happened to it?" Ocena asked sadly. It almost hurt to look at sometimes.

"I could tell you of the great battle, centuries ago... how the Traveler was crippled," the Speaker replied grimly. "I could tell you of the power of the darkness, its ancient enemy. There are so many tales, told throughout the city to frighten children. Lately, the tales have stopped... the children are frightened anyway." He said as he walked away a bit. "The Darkness is coming back. We will not survive it this time."

Luden spoke up. _*"Its armies surround us. The Fallen are just the beginning."*_

"What can I do?" Ocena asked.

"You must push back the Darkness. Guardians are fighting on Earth and beyond... join them. Your Ghost will guide you. I only hope he chose wisely." The Speaker walked off.

_*"I did, I'm sure of it. We're in this together now."*_ Luden said following Ocena as she walked off, not knowing that the Speaker's last words had bothered her.

Ocena's friends were waiting for her when she got back from talking to the Speaker.

"So?" Atom asked. "How'd it go? Are we allowed to head back to the Cosmodrome when we're ready to give the Fallen another beatin'?"

"Um… sure if you want…" Ocena said her eyes low. "I may just stick to the Tower for a while…"

Atom let out a triumphant whoop, missing Ocena's downcast expression. "Oh hell yeah! Wait'll I tell the other Titans: we're finally gonna get back in the fight! Catch you mooks later, I gotta war ta help plan!" Atom called as he took off towards the Titan barracks.

Thane noticed Ocena's expression and tone right away. "What's wrong Ocena? Did the Speaker say something that upset you?"

Ocena wrung her hands a little. "He said… he said, he hoped Luden chose wisely…"

Victor smiled. "That's just his way: he wants to be optimistic, but his position forces him to be realistic more often than not. He's trying to keep from filling you with false hope and making you think you are invincible. He's never been one to doubt the Traveler's will: Luden picked you, and the Speaker knows the significance of a Ghost's choice."

"And to revisit recent events," Thane chimed in with a smile, "you, a rookie Guardian, have killed a Fallen Archon. Many of my Hunter brethren are clamoring to know this young friend of mine who has done what few of us can boast of doing."

Ocena opened and closed her mouth, she'd had something to say but after hearing that clearly that thought had been wrong.

"Well… none the less I think I'll recover a little and study a few things then go out again, but just to scavenge you know? Get use to fighting more."

"Of course," Victor said with a smile. "Take as much time as you need. You've done a lot in one day, even for a Guardian. When you are ready, we will be with you."

Thane looked like he was debating something. "To revisit the matter of the Crucible… I do not recommend it unless you feel the confidence to try. But it will provide you with combat experience."

"I think I'll pass on that a while longer..." Ocena said sheepishly. "The Fallen are one thing… other Guardians are another… you know?"

Victor smiled slightly. "Indeed. And besides, I often find that Guardians are far wilier opponents than the servants of the Darkness. You see, _anything _goes in the Crucible: weapons, grenades, even Supers. Maybe one day you'll be ready, but until then… I'd stay clear of Lord Shaxx."

"Will do." Ocena chirped.

_*"Ocena I just received a message… from Avi."*_

Ocena perked up. "Oh?"

_*"Word gets around pretty fast, she won't admit it but I think she wants to know you are alright."*_

She smiled. "Alright I'll find her. Oh," Ocena looked to Thane. "Avi seems… different. Did anything happen to her?"

Thane frowned. "We Hunters do what we can to hide our pain. Everyone has scars, and we all have ways of dealing with them. We Hunters simply resort to distancing ourselves from others as opposed to other more… productive methods."

Ocena frowned. "I see… well I won't ask her too much in case she gets upset but I'll see you guys later!" With that she set off looking for Avi, feeling a little more light-hearted than she had when she first came to the Tower.


	10. Chapter 10

**Message from the authors: Eltyr: **Hey, we're back! Sorry to keep you guys waiting; have another extra-large chapter. This chapter explores a little idea Colette had about the whole "the Darkness devoured you" thing. Now this isn't what really happens in the game, but I thought Colette had a cool idea, so we made a little story arc to explore it. Hope you guys enjoy, and please tell us what you think in the reviews! I'll be happy to pass along any messages you guys have for Colette, and flaming will be ignored as per standard protocol.

**Ch10**

"Luden chill." Ocena said with a heavy sigh.

_*"This isn't a good idea…"*_

"Look, I want to be able to fight on my own. Thane, Victor and Atom can't always be with me. Besides, we're just looking for spin metal, sapphire wire, plasteel plating and hadronic essence. You know, the stuff Avi told me about."

_*"...Ocena you can't even use some of that stuff."*_

"I know, but I can give what I can't use to my friends, you know." Luden didn't reply. Ocena had only gone on three scavenging missions so far with Avi, and now she was out on her own. Thankfully the Fallen in this area weren't too strong (they were only level two to three to Ocena's five), but Luden still didn't like her out on her own.

"**Out on your own, young Guardian?" **A chilling eerie voice inquired.

Ocena jumped and turned around. A Hunter… but he looked strange. There was something dark and inky spilling out from him like small wisps of smoke.

_*"Ocena we need to go. Now."* _Luden said nervously while hovering back a bit.

The Hunter cast a glance at Luden before looking at Ocena again.

"**This is your first time on your own?"**

"Yes… who are you?" She asked gripping her gun, she was getting an odd feeling from the man.

"**... No one has ever asked me that before, they often turn and run or attack me."**

Ocena frowned. "Why is that?"

"**From what I recall, Fallen got me pretty good, didn't have anyone with me and I fell… woke up during the night. I wasn't sure what happened until I found some water and saw my reflection; Darkness has consumed me. It's sad really and I have no idea if this can be fixed."**

Ocena gave the Hunter a look of sympathy. "You can't go back to the Tower, since you'd get killed… what happened to your Ghost?"

"**No idea." **He looked beyond Ocena and started to step back. **"I'd best be on my way now; may the Traveler watch over you."**

Then he was gone. Ocena heard footsteps behind her and saw a few Guardians she knew coming over. Ever since Ocena's fight with the Archon lots of Guardians had been coming to the Cosmodrome. They were still forbidden to leave earth except on Crucible business, but most of them didn't seem to mind: Ocena was starting to realize how cooped up they must have felt before she came along. She turned back to the shadows, but the strange Hunter had vanished; she thought she'd be used to this by now since Thane did it so often. Ocena wondered how often Guardians ended up consumed by Darkness and wondered if there was anything she could do. If dead Ghosts could be revived, did that mean that something could be done about defeated Guardians as well?

"Hey Thane?" Ocena asked once she was alone with the man. "I… met someone today while I was out." Ocena quickly explained what happened.

Thane stiffened. "You found _what?_" His voice was even quieter than usual. "Atmaven protect us. We should tell the Speaker at once: Guardians whom have had their Light devoured by the Darkness seldom pass through such an ordeal unscathed. There will be damage to be sure, both physical and mental, but it is possible for us to save him, provided we are able to reach him in time to purge the Darkness before it takes a hold of him." Thane seemed to shiver, and absent-mindedly ran a hand along the red hand-canon clipped to his side.

Ocena's eyes lit up. "He can be saved? I think he'd be glad to know that… but I don't know how we'd find him again."

Thane smiled knowingly. "It is fortunate for our fallen brother that I am a Hunter: even though my fellow Hunters are notoriously skilled at moving through the wild without leaving traces, I am confident that with the aid of a few of my colleagues, I will be able to track him down if you lead us to where you saw him last. But we _must _alert the Speaker before we do anything else: only he knows how to prepare infusions of Light with which to purge any taint that the Darkness may have left. I only pray that it is not too late to treat him…"

"I hope we can treat him to. Hey, Luden?"

The Ghost popped up. *_"Yes?"*_

"Send Avi a message. I'm going with Thane to look for someone and can't meet her now. And please make sure Natalie and Shiry don't find out."

_*"Got it."*_

Before either Hunter or Warlock could speak Luden did. *_"Um… Avi was listening in: she wants to come along."*_

"Oh… uh…" Ocena looked at Thane unsure. "Well since she's a Hunter Avi could help. This okay with you Thane?" She asked.

"I have no objections," Thane replied. "Ask her to meet us in the north tower near the Speaker's observatory. We need to inform him of our plans and get his blessing to pursue our current course, otherwise we will be unable to cleanse our comrade when we do finally find him."

Avi arrived while Thane and Ocena were talking to the Speaker. She waited a little ways back and listened in on their conversation the way she often did.

"It is rare that a Guardian survives the permanent defeat of having their Light devoured," the Speaker said gravely. "Many believe that dying in the process would be a far kinder fate. But he was aware of himself to the point where he spoke to you, wondered how you were fairing. This is an encouraging sign: though his Light as a Guardian is gone the Darkness has yet to take root within him." Ocena smiled in relief at hearing this. "However," the Speaker went on, "this cannot last. The few instances we have on record in which a fallen Guardian survived having their Light devoured suggest that in time such a Guardian may grow envious of Guardians who still bear the Traveler's Light. Given the opportunity and enough time, this can eventually transform into bitter resentment and outright hatred, at which point the Darkness will take hold, and we will have a monster on our hands."

The Speaker turned to his work desk and began to manipulate a complex array of exotic looking equipment. Eventually it produced a tiny sphere the size of a golf ball that shone with a warm golden light. The Speaker held it gently in his hands and brought it over to Ocena. "Young Guardian, this is an infusion of the Traveler's Light. It is made from a small mote of Light that senior Guardians generate naturally over the course of performing great labors in the pursuit of their duties. In this refined state it can sever any connection to the Darkness and cleanse the body of any taint that has already set in. Find our lost brother in the Cosmodrome and administer this to his body." A sad and weary tone entered the Speaker's voice. "I am afraid that while this will spare him the fate of being a pawn of the Darkness, there is no-way that he will ever be a Guardian again."

Ocena held the infusion in her hands for a moment before Luden stored it away. "There's nothing we can do to give him his Light back? What if another Ghost bonded to him?"

"There has never been such an occurrence in the history of our order," the Speaker answered. "Once a Ghost has chosen a Guardian it is impossible for another Ghost to bind itself to that Guardian." He trailed off at Ocena's downcast expression. "However… this would also be the first time that a Guardian who, having lost his Light, managed to return to the Tower." An unseen hopeful smile spread behind the mask he wore. "Can a Ghost bind itself to a Guardian who has lost his Light? Can an emptied vessel of the Traveler's will be re-filled? I do not know young Guardian, but perhaps if you are successful, we will find out."

Ocena smiled softly. "We'll try to find him then. Thank you." She turned to Thane and Avi.

"Shall we go?"

Avi nodded. "Yes," Thane said. "Let us be off."

About half an hour later they touched down in the Cosmodrome, and Ocena immediately lead Thane and Ocena to the area where she had seen the fallen Guardian. However before they got moving Thane crouched down on one knee, bowed his head and clasped his hands together. Ocena and Avi could hear him speaking softly.

"Atmaven, lord of thieves, I offer unto you the lives of my foes and that of the enemies of the Traveler. In return I ask that you consider the life of our fallen brother as an even trade. I do not presume to bribe you. I do not presume to know the worth you place on the lives I barter with. I do not presume to cheat you, but I _do_ presume to offer a bargain. Almarach Ish-Tan. Farem."

"... I didn't know you had faith in that area." Avi said softly. It wasn't a surprise that she didn't as she never hung around anyone, even other Hunters.

"There are those who believe that our Traveler is itself a god," Thane said. "Civilian or Guardian, it is easy to see why. I myself view the Traveler as an entity with godlike qualities, but the faith that my order believes in teaches us that gods never allow their presence to be directly known to mortals. Supposedly this is because they wish to allow mortals to have a choice to believe in them or not, and so they work in more secret ways."

Ocena smiled at that. "That makes sense. I like that idea of gods letting people choose to believe or not. So do you think that your gods sent the Traveler here?"

"Yes," Thane replied immediately. "Unfortunately, I also believe that some of the gods do not have the best interests of mortals at heart, thus our war with the Darkness."

"...So why were you praying to the god of thieves?" Avi asked. "Wouldn't you be better off praying to a god of tracking or hunting?"

"Perhaps," Thane conceded with a nod. "However Kulcubath, lady of the hunt, is known to be very fickle, and she often delights in toying with mortals. Praying to her is like flipping a coin and hoping that it lands with the right side up." Thane smiled behind his mask. "Do not let lord Atmaven's title fool you: he and his brethren are the most skilled thieves in all creation, and thus they only steal one of the most valuable things in all of creation: life."

Avi went quiet for a moment. "So you were basically promising this lord of thieves that you'd kill a few dozen Fallen if he'd let us find our comrade in time?"

"In a sense, yes," Thane nodded. "Atmaven and his brethren are known as the deaths, and they are sometimes known to spare one life if they are offered something more valuable. As one of my mentors would say, 'only a fool tries to cheat death; better to offer a fair trade.'"

"Think this will help us?" Ocena asked looking into the dark area that Avi and Thane had led her to.

"I hear shifting… he must be in there." Avi looked to Thane as he stood. "He doesn't know me or you. But a fellow Hunter would reach him easiest."

Ocena took the hint and stepped back. "So are you both going in?"

"No. Just Thane." Avi sat on a rock and crossed her arms over her chest. "Thane would be better for this than me."

"Okay…" Ocena sat cross legged on the ground to wait. "Good luck and be careful."

"I will mention to him that you sent me," Thane told Ocena. "Hopefully from there I will be able to talk him into coming out. _If _the worst should come to pass and he becomes hostile, shoot his legs. Without the Traveler's Light he will not be able to heal quickly like a Guardian." Ocena flinched at the suggestion while Avi nodded grimly. With that Thane crouched down for a moment before vanishing from sight.

A soft step, softer than anyone else would hear, but he was a Hunter after all. Almost no one came in here… why was someone coming in now?

The fallen Hunter stayed in the shadows. Finally he saw who had come in: another Hunter… looking for him? Why? He became worried. There was a reason he didn't leave this spot a lot: he didn't want to harm any Guardians, his… 'illness' could control him, make him hurt others.

It took Thane a moment to spot his quarry: a moment that could have been used to kill him. Thane silently berated himself for slipping up and assigned himself an extra hour of prayer and meditation over the next week in penance. Reasoning that he needed to appear as nonthreatening as possible Thane holstered his Tex Mechanica hand cannon, though he kept his hand close to it and ready to quick-draw, something that was not lost on the fallen Hunter.

"Greetings, brother." Thane whispered. "May the Traveler smile upon you this day."

"**Hello my brother," **the fallen Hunter replied. **"I am afraid it has been a long time since the Traveler did that for me." **The fallen Hunter flinched as a wave of bitterness swept through him. Whispers of jealousy were clawing at the inside of his skull.

Thane felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end: the Light within him was warning him of the danger that the fallen Hunter posed. Darkness was beginning to take root; he needed to act quickly. "A day ago you met a young Warlock not far from here as she gathered spinmetal," Thane stated. "Upon returning to the Tower she confided what she had seen to her closest friends, and in her innocence she asked if there was any way to save you."

The fallen Hunter was silent for a moment. **"We both know that there is only one way to save me…" ** He laid a hand on the scout rifle resting in the sling on his back.

"_No._" Thane's voice was still quiet, but it had the same intensity as if he had shouted. "There _is _another way. When the young Warlock spoke to her friend's one of them brought the matter before the Speaker. The Speaker prepared an infusion of Light and sent part of a tracking cadre to assist the Warlock in finding you." It was only a half-lie, Thane and Avi weren't officially associated with any of the specialized orders among the Hunters, but he needed the fallen one to believe that the Speaker deemed him important and that saving him was a priority. "The Speaker sent us and not the Renegade Hunters my brother. We are not here to harm you: we only wish to help you and bring you _home_."

_**Lies,**_ hissed a voice in the back of the fallen Hunter's head. _**Kill them before they kill you.**_ The fallen Hunter grit his teeth and tried to block out the whispers: they were getting stronger, stronger than they had ever been before. **"I cannot go back," **the Hunter grunted as he put a hand against the side of his head and tried to fight back against the pain. **"I'm… I can hear it whispering in my head," **he admitted. **"The Darkness already has a hold of me. Please brother, you **_**must **_**destroy me before I become the very thing I once fought against!" **

The desperation of the fallen one's pleas gave Thane pause. In a way he saw himself in the fallen one's place, struggling against the corrosive touch of the Darkness. He almost touched a finger against his hand cannon for comfort, but he quashed the impulse and forced himself to keep his tone neutral. "The infusion of Light can cleanse you of whatever taint clings to you. Please brother, let us at least try. Ocena will never forgive you if you simply give up."

The fallen one frowned in confusion. **"Who? Oh," **he nodded in understanding. **"You mean the young one I met the other day?" **Thane nodded. **"She seemed different from the other Guardians somehow.** **When I first noticed her I became curious because she seems to carry herself differently. I have watched our fellow Guardians even before my final defeat, and something about her seemed different from the rest of us." **He fell silent for a moment in thought. **"I haven't been able to put my finger on what it is that makes her different. Until now at least." **He looked up at Thane, and there was a small smile lurking behind his mask. **"Despair, or rather, the lack of despair. Even young Guardians carry a hint of despair's shadow with them when they move. It spurs us on, makes us strive to drive away the Darkness, to undermine our foes, to do **_**something, anything **_**to turn this horrible nightmare we've found beyond our own deaths into something better. And then there are those of us who despair of never being whole again, of living our new lives as shattered echoes of who we once were before we became Guardians. But she is different: in her, I see no despair; only hope." **

Thane smiled fondly and let his hand drop away from his weapon. "She is here now. If you wish, I can call her and ask her to come in so you can see her."

"**...I-" **The whispers started again and the pain returned. He held his head and tried to push back the feeling of darkness. He didn't want to hurt anyone… the whispers told him otherwise.

"Ocena what are you doing?" Avi asked from the rock she was sitting on.

"How did you know I moved? You aren't facing me and I didn't make a sound!"

"I'm a Hunter. We notice movement no matter how small. If we don't, something might sneak up on us out here in the field, and then we'd be dead. Are you going to go in there?"

"Yes… I just have a feeling I need to."

Avi looked at her for a moment before nodding. "If all hell breaks loose Thane and I have you covered."

Ocena walked into the dark area, she could feel some kind of waves… was that the Darkness? She came up a bit behind Thane and saw the other hunter. He looked to be struggling with something. She wanted to ask Thane what was happening, but suddenly it was as though someone else was speaking through her, as if the Light inside of her was resonating.

"What is your name?" She asked and heard a soft voice in her mind. 'Distract him from the Darkness… anger him, but do not make him lash out.'

He looked up. Ah, there she was… why that question? What did it matter anymore? He answered anyway. **"Seth."**

"It's good to meet you Seth. Now you are a Hunter, are you not?"

"**Yes…"**

"You really don't seem like one. The Hunters I know never give up. They are quietly and stoically stubborn, and they don't submit to any law but the law of the wild, let alone this Darkness. Yet here you are, barely fighting it and throwing in the towel. What kind of Hunter does that make you? A rather poor one I'd say. You couldn't look after your own Ghost let alone the people that Guardians keep safe!"

Seth bristled and the cave got considerably darker. Thane's hand once again gravitated towards his holstered hand cannon, and through the light spilling from the cave entrance he could faintly see Avi aiming her sniper rifle into the cave just in case. Though concerned, Thane was nevertheless filled with wonder: the words Ocena spoke were so at odds with her personality that it was as if another was speaking through her. But Ocena wasn't done.

"That said… you kept everyone safe as long as you could. You must have been heavily outnumbered to go down. After all, that armor of yours is of a quality I've only seen very skilled hunters wear. The Traveler is still with you; did you know that? After all you are still fighting the Darkness, you've been fighting it within yourself for who knows how long. The Traveler will never give up on you, especially not when you are still fighting. We came here to help you and we can, so long as you let us. Ignore the Darkness, you are a Hunter… no, you are a _**Guardian.**_ You don't have to listen to its dark words."

The cave grew a little brighter. **"I… can be saved?"**

"The very fact that you still want to be saved is answer enough," Thane said. "You recognize the Darkness within you. You recognize that it is not something you want within you. The Speaker himself sent us because he knows you are not beyond help. And consider:" Thane trailed off and gave Seth a very meaningful look behind his mask. "You are no Dredgen Yor."

Seth grimaced at the name of the Guardian turned monster, but he saw the wisdom in Thane's words. If the stories about Yor were to be believed then he, Seth, was nowhere near as far-gone.

Ocena blinked as she felt the presence in her mind withdraw itself, like a gentle whisper that you weren't sure if you had imagined hearing it or not. "Luden?" she asked as her Ghost materialized next to her shoulder. "The infusion." Luden remained silent as he transmatted the infusion into Ocena's waiting hands.

_*"If I had lungs, I'd be holding my breath,"* _Luden said, hoping to ease the tension a little.

Ocena smiled a little. "Help me Thane? I'm not quite sure how to do this." Seth inched a little closer, ignoring the whispers and fighting the urge to attack. Soon enough he would be free from the darkness… all thanks to a young Guardian. Luden looked to Seth. Honestly he was very surprised by the situation… no, he had been surprised at what Ocena said. She really wasn't fearful anymore.

Thane walked up behind Seth and gently set his hands upon his shoulders. "Be still brother. The nightmare is ending." The voices were screaming at Seth not to trust him, but he stubbornly closed his ears to them, focusing instead on Ocena's words and how they made him feel like he once again housed the Traveler's Light within himself. However there were some things the voices said that confused him. When they spoke of the Hunter behind him they accused him of being a thief and a traitor, and Seth could not understand why. Somehow he sensed that Thane carried something with him; something dark, something that the taint clawing at him recognized as being like itself. Yet he sensed no Darkness attempting to creep into him. There were shadows in his heart to be sure, but all living things carried them; they were natural, unlike the Darkness that festered within him.

"Ocena, apply the infusion to his chest," Thane instructed. "The Darkness inside him will try to defend itself, and he may shake during the process. I will hold him still."

Ocena nodded and gave Seth a reassuring smile beneath her hood. She stepped up to Seth and held the infusion up to his chest. The tiny orb began to glow brighter and brighter, and she thought she could see tendrils of something black and smoky seeping out of Seth's armor as if some sort of unseen wind was trying to blow it away. Seth twitched and jerked slightly, his face set in a determined grimace as he fought to keep his body still. Then Ocena touched the infusion to his chest, and he felt both pain and relief at once and had to bite the bottom of his lip to keep from screaming. It felt like something painfully cold was being pushed out of his veins and through his skin, while something soothingly warm was being eased into him, and the warmth brought with it a feeling any Guardian would know: the presence of the Traveler's Light.

The infusion began to pass through Seth's armor and into his chest as Ocena continued to gently push it in, his body continuing to shake and spasm as Thane held him still. Now it looked like enormous plumes of smoke were billowing off of Seth's armor, black as tar and filling the air with a biting chill. Later, the three Guardians present would try to forget that the smoke seemed to be screaming.

Memories came back to Seth of his time as a Guardian: watching his fellows move about the Tower, listening to their jokes and conversations. Stalking an elusive Cabal commander on Mars for a week with a team of four and camping out under the starry Martian skies. Sinking his knife deep into the skull of a Fallen Baron from the House of Wolves. A conversation with his Ghost about the practicality of taking apart his own gear in order to modify it to better suit his needs.

Finally the infusion left Ocena's palm and entered Seth completely, the last of the Darkness seething off of him and dissipating. Seth sagged forward before Thane and Ocena caught him and held him up.

"It's gone…" Seth whispered breathlessly. "It's gone… thank the Light it's gone…" He trailed off and went silent just as Avi entered the cave.

"Seth?" Ocena asked with worry. "Are you okay? Seth!?"

"He's unconscious," Thane stated. "Trauma from the cleansing process. He'll be alright after some rest." He smiled from behind his mask. "You've done it, Ocena: you've saved him."

"I… I didn't do much though. Um should we get him back to the Tower?" Ocena wanted to talk about what came over her but only after Seth was taken care of.

"That would be for the best," Thane confirmed. "It is likely that he has eaten very little over the past few weeks, if he has eaten anything at all, and we need to have any injuries he has looked at."

"Sleeping in a bed will probably do him some good too," Avi added. "Let's get out of this cave and call our ships."

Ocena nodded and they made their way out, and set off for the Tower.


	11. Chapter 11

**Note from the authors: Eltyr: **Reeeeally sorry it's been so long: I ran into a little something called Deus Ex Human Revolution, and it promptly absorbed all of my time and focus ^^;

**ColetteJH: **I'm to blame as well for slowness… I've been playing Skyrim a lot and have gotten a cold. We will keep writing we'll just be a tad slow.

**Ch 11**

Ocena walked slowly down the hall to the infirmary. It'd been a few days since they had brought Seth back to the Tower. He was mostly resting, his wounds were taken care of long ago he just slept a lot now. She wondered if the Darkness hadn't let him sleep… she was going today to see him and to help get him to eat. Then after that she needed to talk with her friends.

The infirmary was all white and had that hospital smell Ocena always disliked. She had a small flashback of visiting her injured father… she was going to have to think more on that memory later.

The doctor looked up as she came in and sighed. "Thanks for coming." He said softly.

"Sure thing… is he all better?"

"Just about one of the main issues is that he needs to eat; he was pretty malnourished when you and your friends brought him in, but I've seen worse cases." He paused. "There are... other concerns."

She cocked her head. "Such as?"

"Psychological damage and emotional trauma. He's had to watch his Ghost die, felt the Light inside of him be ripped out and severed only to be replaced with…" He shuddered, unable to finish the thought. "In my professional opinion, I'm amazed that he's still sane. He doesn't do much other than sleep and stare off into the distance, and we're concerned that he's brooding over never being a Guardian again-"

"We don't know that though!" Ocena gently interrupted. "The Speaker said that a Guardian has never made it back to the Tower after having their Light devoured, so we don't know if it's impossible for him to be a Guardian again."

The doctor gave her a small, sad frown. "As you said, we don't know if it's possible and we don't want to get his hopes up." He smiled a little. "He's shown some good signs too though: whenever we get him in a wheelchair and take him outside for some fresh air, he always smiles when he sees the Traveler in the distance." That made Ocena smile a little. "It helps for him to have visitors: his team got wiped out, but the Speaker visits him every day, and the members of the Vanguard pop in from time to time; I think Cayde-6 is in there with him right now, in fact."

"Think he'd be up for me seeing him then?"

The doctor smiled. "I'm sure you'd brighten his day considerably: you saved his life and more after all. I'll buzz you through."

As she approached Seth's room, Ocena could hear a discussion underway. A voice she didn't recognize was speaking to someone, and the voice had a certain quality to it that she'd learned from her time with Atom marked the speech of an Exo.

"For Traveler's sake, you don't have to push yourself like this," the voice said. "You've already been through hell and back; no-one's asking you to go dredging up memories that're only gonna hurt you."

"I'm asking _myself_ to do it, Cayde." Ocena recognized Seth's voice. "At least this way my team's sacrifice… _our _sacrifice, can mean something. The House of Devils have been on edge ever since their Archon was killed, and the House of Kings know that they're reeling. The Devils know that the Kings know, which is why they'll start to fortify for an attempted assault. With my intel we'll be able to move on them before they finish solidifying their position."

There was silence for a moment, then the first voice- Cayde-6 apparently- spoke again. "Sometimes it's hard to tell who's more stubborn: us Hunters or the Titans."

Seth chuckled. "What, the Warlocks don't get a say?" That got a laugh from Cayde. "I can do this Cayde: yes, it hurts to remember that mission, but I _do _remember it, and if what I remember helps us take the Devils down, it'll be like I'm still out there, still fighting with the others."

Ocena jumped as she heard someone coming up behind her. Turning around, she found herself facing a huge Titan whose armor was colored white and orange. There was some sort of shaggy brown fur on the shoulder pads, and he was wearing his helmet despite the fact that most Guardians kept their helmets off in the Tower. The helmet itself had a blank faceplate, half white and half orange, and it was adorned with what looked like ram horns, only one of them had broken off.

"Um hello." She said softly.

The Titan stared at her for a silent moment before nodding once. "So, you're the rising star Warlock the Vanguard's been buzzing about?" His voice was very gruff, and he had a clipped London accent. "They tell me you took down an Archon all on you own?"

"Er… well I had my friends backing me up… but to tell the truth it was kind of an accident that I did kill it. I got mad, then… well then I killed it." Ocena still didn't really know how she had done it but it likely came naturally for new skills to come up.

"None of that," the Titan chided her. "No-one _accidentally_ kills a Fallen Archon. Exaggerated stories or no, the fact remains that you fought an Archon and lived to tell the tale. Then there's the fact that you filled it with enough rounds and void energy to contribute to its untimely demise. Never downplay your role in any battle: every hand holding a weapon counts in a war, even if the weapon is never fired."

Ocena didn't reply to that. She… she didn't see what the big deal was. Sure even Atom and Luden said that a number had been done to the Fallen by killing that thing but- ah plain and simple she didn't like the attention she was getting!

The Titan noticed Ocena fidgeting a little. An amused laugh escaped him. "Hah, you lack for confidence after slaying an Archon? No wonder I haven't seen you in the Crucible: I was starting to wonder why no-one has boasted of going up against the Archon slayer."

Ocena jolted and paled. She had no plans to ever go there but now, oh now she knew who she was talking to: it was Lord Shaxx! _Why now of all times?_ She thought.

Shaxx studied her silently when she didn't reply, noting the nervous expression she wore. "Are you afraid, young Guardian?" He asked, his tone a touch softer.

"I've just gotten used to fighting the Fallen. The Fallen I've been able to figure out how they fight. Fighting other Guardians? It's not a nice thought."

Shaxx was silent for a moment. Then he sat down on a nearby bench and motioned for Ocena to join him, which she did reluctantly.

"Those who compete in the Crucible come away from it more angry than afraid," he said. "They vow to get each other next time after particularly humiliating defeats, or they show good form and complement the victors for their cunning and determination. However, you still haven't answered my question young Warlock." He turned to face Ocena. "Are you afraid?"

"Yes. The first time I heard about it I was more than just scared; now not so much but I still am. I'm sorry to say you won't be hearing about me there anytime soon."

The Titan seemed genuinely confused for a moment. Then comprehension set in. "I believe I've given you the wrong impression: I'm not here to persuade you to enter the Crucible. It has proven effective for honing Guardians into seasoned warriors, but the games are not for everyone. Should you find the courage then the Crucible will be waiting for you, but if not, I will not think any less of you. The Crucible is meant to prepare Guardians for what's out there," he gestured vaguely out a nearby window at the area beyond the wall. "Though there are many who return to the Crucible for more than training: for many it has become a sport, a means of settling grudges in a way that doesn't end badly, and admittedly a means of obtaining glory among their peers."

"I see…" Ocena looked to Seth's room having forgot why she was down here. "Sorry but I have a friend to visit. Though would you mind much if I asked you a question about the Crucible?"

Shaxx nodded. "If you mean Seth, I was actually on my way to visit him as well. He was once highly respected in the Control leaderboards…" He trailed off. "Ah, I'll explain another time if you are curious. As for your questions," he added as they stood up from the bench, "what is it that you wish to know?"

"I…" Ocena was a little confused she had asked that before really thinking it over. "I'll need to think about how I want to phrase my question. There are a lot of things."

Shaxx nodded. "Come see me later; you can find me in the hallway leading to the Hall of the Vanguard." As he finished talking the door to Seth's room opened, and an Exo Hunter stepped out.

"Ah, Shaxx," Cayde said as he stepped into the hallway. "Here to ask Seth when he'll be coming back to the meatgr- ah, Crucible?"

Shaxx gave a noncommittal grunt. "Just checking to make sure none of his old rivals have come to gloat. And to inform him that his record for total control still remains unbroken."

Cayde chuckled. "That'll cheer him up. Anyways I'm off: back to boring old maps and intel sorting for me…" He walked off with a dismissive wave, already in conversation with his Ghost.

"That would be rather mean and rude for other Guardians to gloat while Seth is still down." Ocena said frowning. "Shall we?" She said reaching for the door controls.

"Indeed," Shaxx replied as they entered. Seth saw them enter and sat up on his bed, a small smile on his face.

Now that Seth was cleaned up Ocena could see he had black red hair that was parted away from his face and reached past his jaw the very tips touching his high collar. His eyes a dark shade of blue they almost looked black, his skin a bright white shade but a little pale. And like most hunters he had a good build.

"Hello Seth." Ocena said as she sat in a chair near the bed. "I've been hearing you aren't eating much."

He gave her a guilty look. "I've just wanted to sleep."

"You know what you're doctor told me? He said you're malnourished."

"I…" Seth started.

"You don't like the food you have to have do you? Well," Ocena recalled her father before he died. He had fallen off a building during one of his classes and ended up in the hospital. No one was able to get him to eat the food there but since he was injured and had gotten sick no one had wanted to risk surprising his stomach and making him sick. So her mother had made simple meals and brought them to him.

Ocena blinked out of the memory. She then reached into one of the pouches on her belt and took out a ration bar.

"Don't make a face I made this one. It has better taste it still has all the calories." Ocena handed it to him.

Seth gave it a try and grinned at her.

"See? I have a few more if you want some more." It had taken Ocena a while to make the new ration bar, she was going to see if she could replace the old ones. It didn't take much time to make them. She knew they worked and so far they didn't have any bad side effects she'd been eating them for a month and she was fine.

She looked to Shaxx when he started to speak.

"It's good to see you in one piece, troublemaker," Shaxx said. "I was starting to worry that all that time spent hiding behind corners only to snipe your fellow Guardians when they least expected it had taught you nothing of how to survive after all."

Seth chuckled. "I didn't win three consecutive Control tournaments for being easy to spot."

Ocea just smiled and let the two talk, she had no idea what they were going on about. She was glad that Seth was eating the ration bars he needed to after all.

"I overheard part of your conversation with Cayde just now," Shaxx continued. "I heard that bit about wanting to feel like you're still out there fighting." Seth frowned and looked a little downcast. Shaxx leaned forward. "You need to accept the fact that you're _not _still out there, that there are things you can no-longer do in our fight against the Darkness. I can only imagine your frustration and sense of powerlessness, but you need to face reality, however unpleasant it might be."

Seth shook his head sadly. "Would you still be saying that if it was you in my place?"

"No," Shaxx responded immediately. "You can be damn sure I'd be kicking and screaming bloody murder. But whenever I eventually calmed down I'd like to think I'd pick myself up and ask: 'what is it that I can still do?' instead of dwelling on what I used to be able to do."

Shaxx gently laid a gauntleted hand on Seth's shoulder. "Keep talking with Cayde: I'm sure he's all too eager to have someone to share his responsibilities with, and it will do you good to stay busy once you've recovered."

Seth nodded. "I'll think about it Shaxx, I promise."

"Good," Shaxx grunted. "I'm afraid I have to cut my visit short: New Monarchy has been bleating for an audience with me for weeks, and I don't think I want to ignore them this time." He turned to leave, but then paused at the door. "Ah, I nearly forgot," He turned back around and held out his hand. His Ghost materialized and transmatted something small and round into his hand. It was made of some sort of silver-white metal and was shaped like a flat disc. On it was a picture of the Traveler's symbol surrounded by the crest of each class of Guardian. It looked as though the metal was slightly worn, but still sturdy.

"It is Ocena, right?" Shaxx asked Ocena as he stepped closer to Seth's bedside. Ocena nodded hesitantly. "Ocena, in the Crucible certain feats in battle earn a Guardian recognition in the form of a medal. These medals are nothing more than motes of data that have different point values depending on how difficult a feat you have to perform in order to earn it, and are used to showcase that Guardian's skill." Shaxx turned to Seth and held out the object. "Hunter Seth, for showing unparalleled strength and courage beyond the Crucible, and for refusing to accept a Guardian's ultimate defeat, it is my great privilege to bestow upon you the highest honor I am able to give:" He gently pressed the medallion into Seth's hand, who was struggling to hold back his tears. "The Mark of the Immortal."

Ocena's eyes widened. From what Shaxx said this was… quite something to receive. She found herself feeling happy for Seth and hoped this would brighten him up.

"Um… sorry Seth but I have to get going, I have some plans with a few friends. I'll keep bringing you the ration bars though okay?"

He nodded to her staring at the object in his hand. Ocena smiled, said her goodbyes and took her leave. She was going to talk with Victor about what came over her in the cave.

Ocena perked up seeing Victor and called out to him as she ran over. "Victor hey!"

Victor's eyes lit up and seemed to fill with a feverish fire as he caught sight of Ocena. He immediately walked away from the Warlock he had been talking too (who shot him a perplexed and annoyed look) and firmly placed his hands on Ocena's shoulders. "Thane gave me the short version of what happened," Victor said, the intensity of his stare making Ocena's skin prickle; he seemed halfway between incredibly excited and utterly insane. "Tell. Me. _Everything._"

"I'm not sure what happened. One second I wanted to… say something to Seth, the next I was saying something completely different and I couldn't even move." She looked at him a bit confused. "Do you have any idea what happened?"

Victor released Ocena and paced back and forth a little, mumbling to himself. "Several," he said at last. "Many of them are unlikely, many more _are _likely but impossible to prove for certain." He paused for breath. "What did it _feel _like?"

Ocena frowned. "I'm not sure… I felt… really light and comforted. I think I may have heard a whisper in my head; I couldn't tell you what it said though."

Victor gained a sort of satisfied look and stared out a nearby window, lost in thought. He was silent for several long minutes and seemed to have forgotten that Ocena was even there. When he spoke again he almost surprised Ocena. "Ocena, what is the most basic form of the theory of interconnectivity?"

"That all Light is connected." Ocena replied.

"Correct. This concept applies to anyone or anything associated with Light. Guardians get their Light from the Ghosts, and the Ghosts get their Light from the Traveler, which is the only known source of Light. Supposing the theory of interconnectivity is correct, it can be assumed that someone or something used this connection to speak through you, through your Light."

Ocena blinked. "Are you… saying that it was the Traveler itself?"

"Maybe," Victor muttered. "Maybe not. For all we know it could have been the Speaker's doing: he knows more about Light and its secrets than we Warlocks. The obvious answer is that it was the Traveler speaking through you, but what are the other possibilities? What are the other possible angles and answers?" Victor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That is something I'd like very much to find out." He paused for a moment. "Let's start with what we know: this 'presence' made you feel warm and good, and through you it was able to talk… Seth was it? Into resisting the Darkness."

"That is what happened." She nodded.

"Because of this intervention, you were able to save a former Guardian from the Darkness. At the same time, word has reached me that Seth has brought back substantial intel on the lair of the House of Devils, information that is making the Vanguard seriously consider mounting an attack. So far what we know implies that something either wants the House of Devils to be hurt or destroyed, or wanted us to get Seth back. Or it didn't want the Darkness to have Seth. Or… all of them at once, I suppose," Victor trailed off with a curious frown. "What do _you _think Ocena?"

"I'm going to say all the above." She said softly. "But I think the stronger thing was that Seth was to be saved. I can't imagine falling to the darkness like that is pleasant at all."

Victor nodded. "Yes… I suppose it won't do us any good to guess at why things are happening when we have so little to go on by way of concrete facts. What matters is that you succeeded in saving one of our comrades: that should be good enough for a start," Victor finished with a smile.

Ocena smiled brightly. "Yeah. You busy right now? I kinda wanted to find Thane and Atom too and hang out a bit."

Victor nodded. "I think I can spare an hour or two… although I think I need to apologize to someone for something first," he concluded with a puzzled frown, which made Ocena giggle a little when she remembered the Warlock he had been talking to.


	12. Chapter 12

**Message from the authors: Eltyr: **We know, we know, we're taking too long to update. Hopefully we'll manage to pick up steam soon. In the meantime, I had this _**awesome**_ idea for the story that I would _love _to share with you guys, so I've prepared a sneak peek. **BUT! **I can't let just _anyone _have access. If you want the sneak peek, you must prove your intel-gathering skills as a Guardian and answer a quiz. I'll post the quiz and its rules at the end of this chapter with instructions on how to complete it. Good luck, and in the meantime enjoy the next chapter!

**Ch12**

"Hey Thane, Victor do Guardians ever get married?" Ocena asked out of the blue one day while hanging out with them on one of the upper levels. It was something she'd been wondering about.

Victor and Thane both opened their mouths to respond, then shut them without a word. Victor gained that expression that told Ocena that he was deep in thought, while Thane seemed… shy? Sad? Both? Ocena wasn't sure what to call the emotion she saw.

"Well, romantic interest between Guardians and civilians, and even between two Guardians, is not _unheard of,_" Victor finally said. "But with the risks we Guardians take, it's hard to maintain these relationships, especially since it is uncertain whether or not we Guardians age…"

"So… marriage doesn't happen?" She asked softly.

Victor hesitated; he didn't seem sure that he wanted to answer.

"None that we've heard of," Thane finally said softly, neither his tone nor his expression betraying how he felt on the matter. However, Ocena thought she did see a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Ocena frowned and bit her lip. "Then… people can just do whatever without getting married huh?" She… didn't really like that her plan was to marry before doing anything but since she didn't have someone yet and it didn't sound like there was marriage now days… her mother would have had a fit!

"That is not quite accurate," Victor said with some hesitation. "I do know of a few Guardian couples, and…" he fidgeted awkwardly for a moment. "Well that is, er, based on my limited experience, what they seem to have appears to be more than the type of a relationship that ends in a… what is the expression? A 'one-night stand?' But…" He trailed off at a loss for words.

"I imagine we may be confusing you," Thane said. "It is difficult to put into words, but we are not exactly living in a time of hope. The grim reality is that we are at war, and have been for quite some time. Perhaps a Titan would be able to explain it better, but the simplest way I can think to put it is that a Guardian risks a certain degree of pain by allowing themselves to become romantically attached to someone." Thane's frown seemed to deepen a little as he stared off into the distance in thought.

"Then why not live every day like your last?" Ocena asked. "Why not take the risk and enjoy what you can? I would. You know there was a song I liked way back when, went like this; If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late could you say goodbye to yesterday? Would you live each moment like your last? Leave old pictures in the past, donate every dime you have? Would you call old friends you never see? Reminisce old memories, would you forgive your enemies? Would you find that one you're dreamin' of? Swear up and down to God above that you finally fall in love if today was your last day."

Thane closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. "Were that it were that simple. Some of us do live our days as Guardians as if there was no guarantee of a tomorrow. Some of us put the needs of others ahead of our own need for answers and focus on the fight rather than recovering our memories. We're all doing the best we can," Thane finished with a sullen look in his eyes. "But the simple fact remains that we are at war, and for the past few centuries, we have been losing."

"Until you came along," Victor put in with a smile. "Now there's a spark in everyone's eyes that hasn't been there in a long time. If we can continue to win decisive battles in the Cosmodrome, we will be well on our way to re-taking earth, and perhaps from there we'll be able to turn our attention to the worlds beyond our sky."

Ocena thought that over a minute. "Well is there anything going on right now that I can handle doing?"

_*"There are reports that the Fallen back at the Cosmodrome are keeping a pretty tight guard on the old Skywatch."* _A few hours later Ocena, Thane, Victor and Atom were in their jumpships on the way back to the Cosmodrome._ *"Could be one of their leaders, or it could be something valuable."* _Luden went on._ *"The Speaker's asking Guardians to look into it."*_

Ocena dropped down lightly now used to transmitting. Luden popped up just as the others came down.

They came to an open area where a large building was it had likely help ships at one point. *_"You know, this place must've been amazing before the Collapse."* _Luden said as they looked around.

_*"Thousands of humans boarding the colony ships, off to build cities beyond."*_

Ocena smiled sadly. "I wish I could have seen that…"

They moved up a few more hills coming to an area full of ruined plans filled with Fallen.

_*"Okay the Skywatch is just on the other side of the Steppes… and it's surrounded by Fallen. Well, I'm ready if you are."* _He ended with a little forced cheer.

"Alright… this way guys." Ocena said leading the way. She had explored the area a little with Avi but hadn't been the way Luden was pointing her to.

_*"Up the hill. The building with the radar. That's the Skywatch."*_

"Got it."

Once up there Ocena spotted a Fallen Captain and a Vandal. Ocena threw a grenade at the two of them, she switched to her pulse rifle to finish off the Vandal.

"Ack!" The Captain hit her knocking her off her feet, but two more bursts from her pulse rifle took care of it.

"Ow…" Ocena sat up robbing her head and trying to get air back.

Atom gently patted her on the shoulder. "Walk it off, you'll get used to the bumps an' bruises."

"I hope so." Ocena said finally regaining air. "The Captains are always such a pain." She muttered as she entered the building. *_"We're in. This was one of Skywatch' s old array stations - link to the lunar colonies."* _Luden said softly.

The building had an odd feeling, the further in they went the further any warmth or light felt.

"Guys… do you feel that too?" She asked feeling a little worried. Then suddenly they entered a darkness zone. Ocena stopped. "I have a bad feeling."

"I feel it too," Victor nodded. "Switch off your helmet's external speakers and activate your comm system. We don't want whatever might be lurking ahead to overhear us." The fireteam's Ghosts immediately did as Victor had suggested and linked everyone's helmets up to a dedicated comm channel.

***"I'm adding a layer of encryption to the comm channel, just in case,"* **Idea said as everyone checked that they could hear each other.

Ocena moved around the corner seeing old machines. "You know it really is sad seeing all this no longer in use." She commented.

"We'll take it back someday," Atom said confidently. "All of this was ours once before. We beat the Darkness, and it'll be ours again."

Ocena smiled at Atom from beneath her hood. _Are all Titans this good at cheering people up? _She wondered to herself. _Maybe it's just one of Atom's talents. _She walked up to the steel door having Luden float over to the controls.

_*"Dead end. Fallen sealed this gate. I can get it open."*_

"You can open just about anything huh?"

_*"Well I can't pick a lock on an old safe."*_

Ocena laughed softly at that.

Luden messed with the controls a bit before the gate started to open.

_*"The Fallen really didn't want anybody getting in. Or out."*_

That didn't sound good.

Ocena was about to walk forward but stopped, seeing the odd green spikes and how dark it was. She didn't like the dark but moved forward sticking close to her friends. Ocena was so very scared as they slowly moved through the dark passage. Their Ghosts were shining lights so that they could see, but it was so _dark._

_*"What is this? Lots of motion ahead. I've got a bad feeling about this."*_

"Luden!" Ocena hissed. "You saying that isn't comforting!"

_*"Sorry… Hey! You said the same thing earlier!"*_

Ocena chuckled a little, but it was mostly nervous laughter. Luden was right, something here… was off.

Atom was in the lead with his shotgun at the ready, sweeping the area ahead of him and checking the corners. Victor covered the rear with his pulse rifle, his finger wrapped tightly around the trigger. Thane was next to her in the middle, a red hand cannon held with both hands as they moved slowly as a group. Ocena did her best to keep her breathing even like she had been taught and noted with some satisfaction that her pulse rifle was not shaking in her grip.

Suddenly Thane raised a hand and everyone stopped dead, checking for signs of movement while wondering what Thane had seen. "What is it, Thane?" Victor whispered over the comms. In response Thane slowly knelt and ran his hand over something on the floor. When Ocena looked down she saw these strange black things growing on the ground, like barnacles from the ocean or something. She shivered then: it felt as though something nearby in the dark was… eager for them to come. No, eager wasn't the right word: she had felt this sensation once before, when Thane had shown her…

"...They cannot be." She almost didn't hear Thane whisper over the comms.

"What cannot be?" Atom asked impatiently while remaining focused on the passage in front of them. "C'mon Thane, something in here's makin' my Light itch, this ain't the time for mysterious and suspenseful silences."

"It feels like the Hive," Victor muttered. "I recognize this from the time I went into the catacombs beneath the moon, this atmosphere of wrongness that sets a Guardian's Light on edge. But how could they be here on earth? We've fought so hard to keep their Seeders from landing here."

"I guess we'll ask 'em when we find 'em," Atom said with determination. "Let's keep movin', keep it nice and tight now."

"The… the Hive?" Ocena asked feeling more fear coming. She tried to focus past it as she looked into the open room. Her tracker showed many red spots… this room was filled wasn't it?

As soon as they walked further in the room there was shrieking and roaring that made Ocena jump.

_*"The Hive!"* _Luden cried moving to hover above Ocena's shoulder. He'd been hoping Thane was wrong but he knew it wasn't likely that the man was.

Ocena had made a rather poor mistake in freezing up when a large group of Thralls came after her. Avi had told her about them, one or two wasn't bad, but when they attacked in large groups- which was often- they could do some serious damage and be rather annoying. Avi had said she mostly stabbed them to take them out faster or just mowed them down with her gun. Ocena did just that, meleeing them and quickly backing away while firing at them.

Ocena's heart was pounding as more of the Thralls rushed at her en masse, each of them shrieking and snarling. She felt herself start to panic as she aimed her pulse rifle and remembered something Atom told her during training:

"_Don't think 'I don't want to die,' think 'I won't die.' Don't think 'I hope I don't miss,' think 'I __**will **__hit them.' Don't think 'I'm not afraid,' think 'I'm afraid, but I'm not letting that stop me.'"_

Ocena squeezed the trigger and aimed for the heads of the Thralls, cutting them down by the dozens as she fired in short bursts. Behind her Victor paused after shooting a group with his pulse rifle and created a ball of flame in his free hand, which he then hurled over Ocena's shoulder at a group of Hive armed with energy weapons: Acolytes. The fireball hit the ground and went off with a wave of heat and light, sending out white-hot lances of flame that immediately struck any nearby Hive like bolts of lightning and burnt them to ash. Atom's shotgun barked thunderously as he aimed with stiff precision and brought down large groups of Hive with every shot. For several tense seconds the air was full of the sound of gunfire and shrieks as the Guardians battled the Hive in the dark. Then a series of shots seemed to rise above all other sounds. Every shot was somehow solemn, as if they carried a great weight, and each was followed by a brief silence as the gunman chose the next target. Ocena realized she had lost sight of Thane, and quickly glanced around to find him.

Her eyes widened: there he was crouched in the middle of the room, his body still as he took aim at a large Hive warrior that held some sort of sword as it bellowed at him and charged fearlessly. And in Thane's hands… was Thorn. Ocena watched as Thane pulled the trigger once: the round struck the Hive warrior squarely in the head, and it screeched in pain as its body dissolved into ash; Thane didn't seem to take any notice of its demise as he was already aiming at a new target and firing. He never missed a shot, and every shot resulted in another Hive creature being reduced to ash. Sometimes his shots would end up killing two or more warriors at once, the rounds drilling through their targets and going on to strike whatever was behind them. Anything that wasn't fortunate enough to be killed by the round soon found emerald fire wrapped around its body, slowly destroying it with biting flames. Ocena found that she couldn't take her eyes off of Thane: she couldn't see his face behind his breather mask, but she knew that his green eyes were blazing with anger.

Finally the Hive warriors had all been killed, and everyone took the time to catch their breath and reload their weapons. Ocena watched Thane as he looked down at Thorn in his hands, completely silent as he contemplated the cursed weapon.

"Th-that was the Hi-Hive? I thought they only h-had the moon?" Ocena found herself angry. "I guess our moon just wasn't good enough for the Zlaya temnaya zhiteli!" She hissed.

Thane's voice was colder than ice. "Perhaps they have realized that they cannot have it. Yet they believe that they can have our earth instead?" Thane stood and glared off into the darkness. "No. This Cosmodrome is as far as they will get, and even then they will not stay here long. Not while there is Light within me."

Atom and Victor were both watching Thane silently, their gaze on the weapon held in his grasp.

"...Thane?" Victor began slowly. "Do you realize what you are holding?"

Thane turned to face Victor, who took a step back at feeling the intensity of the glare Thane shot him behind his breather mask. Then Thane seemed to calm down and he slowly looked down at Thorn. "I… am tired of being afraid," he said at last.

Ocena's eyes went wide: Thane was afraid? He'd never, ever given any sign that he felt any fear at all, just some sort of regret. Whatever it was he meant, Atom and Victor seemed to understand as they both gave Thane a nod and didn't say anything more: Atom began to brush ash from the Hive off of his auto rifle to keep the mechanisms from clogging, while Victor turned to Ocena and asked "Are you alright?"

"Yes… do they all feel so..?" She couldn't think of the word she wanted to use. The whole place made her want to scream… was this what Seth felt before they found him?

"Fear is a powerful weapon," Thane muttered as he carefully holstered Thorn. "But it cuts both the victim and the one who wields it. I am finished fearing the Hive's sorcery: it is time that I turned their weapon back on them." He looked over at the others. "I appreciate having the rest of you here with me, if only to reassure myself that there will be someone to pick me up should I fall."

Ocena smiled at Thane and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you were there for me when I needed it: fair's fair, right?"

"Thane," Victor said carefully, "may I have a look at Thorn? Something about it seems… different since the last time I saw it."

Thane hesitated for a few moments, then he drew Thorn and held it out to Victor. Victor carefully approached Thane and leaned in a little to look at Thorn, Idea hovering closer to shine a light on it. "I was right. If I were to sum Thorn up with a single word, it'd be…"

"Hungry," Ocena whispered, remembering the feeling it had given off when she first saw it. Victor glanced over at Ocena and nodded.

"Exactly. And while it certainly still feels hungry, I think that it has subsided somewhat. Thorn still seems to be eager to… consume, but it seems calmer now. I think… I think it has accepted you as its master Thane, and while I can feel it calling out for more victims to devour, I think that it is content to wait for you to draw it and use it of your own free will. I've been wrong before, but I don't think we need to worry about it trying to corrupt you."

They all heard a series of shrieks up ahead. "More Hive," Thane observed crisply. He turned to Victor and added, "Shall we test your theory by feeding Thorn more of its former masters?"

"Only if you save some for me," Atom interjected as he flexed his gauntleted fists.

"Uh… that doesn't sound like a Thrall-" Ocena fell forward when she got hit from behind her head spinning. She found she couldn't get back up or see… what just happened?

Ocena felt a rush of air behind her and suddenly Thane teleported into place, his knife stabbed into the center eye of an Acolyte that had dropped down from the ceiling to land behind her. The acolyte shrieked in agony and burst into ash as Thane grabbed Ocena and pulled her out of the way of a volley of shots from its comrades. Ocena steadied herself with Thane's help and nodded at him gratefully before they both re-joined the fight.

"Up ahead," Victor called out over the comms as they fought their way out of the dark. "I think I hear a fight in progress."

"Are other Guardians here fighting the Hive?" Ocena wondered as she took out a group of Hive with her void grenade.

"We were the first to crack that door back there," Atom pointed out as he threw a violet grenade that stuck to a Hive warrior and let out an ominous beeping before exploding spectacularly. "My money's on a group of Fallen. Tryin' to keep the Hive from takin' their scavenging territory."

Ocena frowned. "Well how about we go spoil their party? Teach em this is ours."

Atom turned to grin at Ocena beneath his helmet. "Now you're gettin' it. Let's clean house."

The other creatures, Acolytes went down a little easier than the Thralls had, which made moving forward faster. They proceeded up a short staircase and turned a corner.

_*"There's a Wizard here. You have to kill it!"* _Luden said suddenly.

Ocena knew a bit about Wizards, Avi said they were annoying. "Uh guys, what does a Wizard do?" Ocena liked having information before doing somethings.

"Fly around and pelt you with arc blasts," Victor informed her as they all paused to reload or get out their heavy weapons. "They usually have a personal shield like a Fallen Captain, typically a solar shield. They're no good in hand-to-hand combat, but if you get too close they can create toxic clouds that sap your strength away."

"Thorn's flames seem similar to solar damage," Thane observed. "When we find the Wizard I will try to take down its shield quickly. After that, if we all use our grenades on it we should be able to take it down. The trick is that Wizards are usually accompanied by an entourage of lesser Hive."

"Leave that to me," Atom grunted as he readied his rocket launcher. Ocena noted that the weapon had an interesting paint job: the end that fired rockets looked like it had a snarling mouth painted on.

Ocena nodded at the others. "Okay guys lets go."

As soon as the group came a foot into the room Thralls rushed them while Acolytes took aim and fired at them. Atom steadily leveled his launcher at the biggest group and fired. The blast was _enormous _and left behind two miniature fireballs that continued to burn anything nearby for a few seconds, preventing the Hive from charging them!

The plan was followed very well until it came to killing the Wizard. Ocena sadly misjudged her aim sometimes when throwing a grenade so to avoid missing she tended to get close, Avi said that wasn't always a good idea and seeing that the Wizard could send up toxic clouds it really wasn't a good idea. Yet she got close anyway.

The Wizard went down as planned, but Ocena was caught in a toxic cloud at the last minute.

"Gah! Hel-" Ocena didn't finish the cry; something was around her she couldn't see.

_**You took my pet…**_

Ocena jolted and tried to move but was unable; she couldn't breathe let alone talk. No, no she needed to get away! Ocena managed a strangled noise of distress before something smacked into her chest making her fall back and off the risen platform. Ocena faintly heard Luden calling out to the others, _*"Help, help! I don't know what happened! She isn't getting up! Ocena!"*_

She still couldn't move or breath. She struggled to stand up hearing her friends coming over to her to help. Ocena had never felt the Light within her so strongly before: but this wasn't good.

Shock.

Fear.

Disgust.

Oh the disgust was the strongest. Ocena bolted up and pushed her helmet off finally able to breath which she did slowly to keep from getting sick.

Luden looked from Ocena to her friends helplessly, he didn't know what had happened or what to do. Victor and Thane both crouched down to Ocena's level and helped to steady her as she tried to overcome her nausea. "Easy Ocena," Victor said soothingly. "Just breathe." _What in the Traveler's name happened? _He wondered. _Her hood's internal filters should have kept her from breathing in the worst of the toxins, so why does it look like somethings trying to… strangle her Light?_

Atom stopped sweeping the area for hostiles as Ocena continued to splutter and cough, worry and concern causing him to frown at the sight of the young Warlock's distress. Not quite knowing what to do but wanting to do _something,_ Atom walked over to the others and used his Super to erect a Ward of Dawn. The bubble of Light infused void energy seemed to do the trick, sweeping away whatever dark presence had come over Ocena and soothing her Light.

Ocena finally managed to get her breathing under control and felt a lot better. "Thanks Atom," she said weakly.

"Anytime," the Titan said reassuringly. "There's probably more Hive skulkin' around here somewhere, but we've already hurt em' plenty and we need to get back to the City and warn em' that the Hive are here."

"Agreed," Thane said with a nod. "We must alert the Vanguard at once. Ocena, do you think you can stand?"

"I think so…" Ocena felt her Light calming down, but she still didn't feel too great. She'd go see the Speaker, maybe he could help.

**Quiz**

** Eltyr: **Okay Guardians, here's how this works. I'm going to ask seven questions. Send me your answers in the form of private messages, and I'll respond back to tell you if you're right or not. If you can answer at least four out of seven correctly, I'll private message you with the sneak peek about an exciting arc of the story that I have planned. If you fail, I'll at least drop a subtle hint as to what the peek is about as a door prize. But if you can go above and beyond and answer all seven correctly, I'll give you an _extended _sneak peek. Up for the challenge Guardians? Send your answers in before June 15th, and I'll respond to you as soon as I can. Now without any further ado, here is your challenge:

Commander Zavala and Lord Shaxx both fought together in what pivotal battle?

What is the name of the mysterious merchant who sometimes visits the Tower?

In armor modification and repair, Titans prefer to use Plasteel Plating, while Warlocks prefer Hardonic Essence. What do Hunters use?

The Fallen are divided into different houses. There are presently at least seven known houses; can you name three of them?

The Awoken are the descendants of humans who fled to space during the Collapse. What is the name of their settlement in the solar system's asteroid belt?

Name one piece of Exotic gear and one Exotic weapon, and tell me what it's unique ability is.

Name the three city factions.

**It doesn't matter how you get the information, just that it's correct. Good luck!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Ch13**

**Note from authors: ColetteJH: **Due to me feeling the fanfic has slow pacing, we've decided that until all the missions on Earth are done that there won't be anything but missions. We have some good stuff coming so look forward to it! ^-^

**Eltyr: **We'll still have _some _non-mission stuff, but as Colette said we're currently focusing on wrapping up the Earth arc. Also, you guys seen the Taken King E3 reveal yet?

_*"The Vanguard's reporting that Fallen are tearing into machines all over the Cosmodrome."* _Luden said as the jumpships flew to the destination._ *"I'm starting to think they aren't just looting the place. Whatever they're look for we should probably find it first."*_

Ocena couldn't agree more with that as she landed on solid ground her friends coming up around her.

_*"I'm picking up heavy Fallen activity near the Forgotten Shore. But that's miles from here. Guardians have set up a vehicle grid here. We sync to that, we can summon ground transport from our ship. Let's go."*_

"Alright Luden show us the way." Ocena took the lead making sure to stay close to her friends. She was better with her grenades now; she didn't want a repeat from the last mission… that just hadn't been good.

"Hey, you know how to ride a Sparrow yet?" Atom asked as their group made for a small shed nearby. "If not, no worries: it's kinda hard _not _to pick it up pretty quick."

"Guess we'll find out huh?" Ocena said as they went inside.

_*"Here's the Sparrow link!" _Luden said as Ocena sent him over to the machine box.

_*"Encoding superimposed states... Entangling ket vectors and - We're linked. Alright, if you want to get your Sparrow, we can be in the Forgotten Shore in seconds."*_

"Er okay… do I summon it about the same way I would a ship?"

_*"Close... yes like that; there you go."*_

Ocena jumped when she was suddenly off the ground and on an odd hovering machine.

"Uh… how do I mov-" Ocena gripped something and ended up smacking into a rock not a foot away and ended up flat on the ground. Her friends immediately rushed over to see if she was okay.

"Sorry," Victor said as he helped Ocena to her feet. "We should have warned you about the acceleration." He held out Idea and summoned his own Sparrow, which had a blue paint job streaked with orange flame patterns while Ocena's was olive green. "Here, we'll teach you how to ride. Get back in the seat and lean forward on your stomach a little."

Ocena carefully got back on her sparrow and did as Victor instructed while Thane and Atom called their Sparrows. "Okay," Ocena said as she gently gripped the handlebars. "Now what?"

"See that small button on the side of the right handle?" Ocena looked and located said button. "That switches the direction of acceleration: one setting has you moving forward, the other setting allows you to move backwards. To move, just twist the handle, but keep in mind that the more you twist it the faster you'll go." Victor smiled and waited patiently as Ocena practiced moving back and forth a few times.

Ocena smiled: this was kind of fun! "Okay, what's next?"

Atom pulled up alongside her. "See those levers above the handle bars? Those are the throttle: pull and hold those and you'll really take off." He pulled off to the side a little ways and demonstrated a small burst of acceleration to show Ocena how it was done. Ocena wheeled her Sparrow around and imitated him, nearly giggling from how good the wind blowing around her felt when she accelerated.

"Okay I think I got this now. I think off duty I'll have to just ride this thing around; it's fun!" Ocena would greatly enjoy that.

"How does that one old-earth saying go?" Thane wondered out loud. "'Practice makes perfect?'"

"That's the one," Atom confirmed. "You're absolutely right though: it _is _fun," he added with a chuckle.

"Well now that we've got our bearings… last one to the Forgotten Shore is a Dreg!" Victor called out as he accelerated forward. Ocena and the others quickly tore off after him, weaving around rocks and rusted vehicles as they raced each other. There was no doubt in Oceana's mind: this was the most fun she'd ever had traveling. At one point she observed Victor flying off a natural ramp, his Sparrow sailing through the air before Victor manipulated a control and it began to corkscrew in mid-air, rolling twice before Victor landed. Ocena briefly wondered how he'd done that and whether or not he could teach her.

_*"We're approaching the Shore. The Fallen are using some sort of signal amplifiers. Let's see what they're transmitting."*_

"Whoa… ships. Well this is the Forgotten Shore." Ocena said as she hopped off theSparrow. "Well let's get rid of these Fallen and get what we came for."

Thankfully Ocena was more than used to fighting at this point so she no longer had trouble, not to mention that the others had her covered from all angles. Scanning both amplifiers hadn't been too hard. Ocena sadly couldn't make anything out thanks to static. Victor, on the other hand, could.

"Hmm… it's largely garbled, but I think… yes, I can hear a voice. I think it's speaking in Russian, but I can't really make out what it's saying."

"You speak Russian?" Ocena asked.

"No, but I recognize many sounds and words heard in the Russian language. Idea's running it through a translator, but nothing meaningful so far, just some broken words and phrases."

_*"They're both linked to something in Skywatch. Let's check it out."*_

"The Skywatch? Huh, guess we didn't explore as much as I thought." She turned around. "Should be quick with the Sparrows."

Ocena was quickly loving the Sparrows. Back up to the Skywatch they went. Ocena was so sure nothing the Fallen did would surprise her anymore… so sure until a Stealth Vandal slashed her several times before she fell back. Yup a new surprise nearly every mission… fun.

"Ow…"

"Directly ahead," Thane suddenly said: immediately Atom fired his shotgun in the direction indicated, and a dead Vandal seemed to materialize out of thin air. "Victor, at three o'clock." Victor responded with a burst from his pulse rifle, dropping another cloaked Vandal.

"How..? Oh right, Hunters are probably better with stealth cloaking than most Fallen," Ocena said as her wounds finished healing.

Thane shrugged. "Some of them are reasonably skilled, but I _have _gone up against some of my more stealthy brethren in the Crucible, so I know what to look for."

"Good to know. Any advice on how to catch them before they hit me?"

"Their stealth cloaks use a device that bends the light around them to make them appear transparent. As they move, the device has to work harder to keep the user hidden, and this creates a sort of 'shimmer' in the air as the field of bent light moves. We Hunters have a similar technique using the Light within us, but our stealth cloaks are more subtle and harder to detect." Thane paused in thought for a moment. "Also, most of the Fallen stealth cloaks require constant maintenance to keep from falling into disrepair, and since the Fallen cannot always find resources to use in repairs, most of the stealth cloaks are not functioning in top condition; they spark from time to time, which can give them away."

"I see. Okay I know what to look for now. Let's get in there." They ran up a set of stairs like the first time they had come here.

_*"The Fallen are tapped into something in the back of the room!"* _Luden said as they got near the broken windows.

"Back of the room- Ack!" Ocena saw the Stealth Vandal coming in time and got a lucky shot to its head. "Oh I got it in the head!" She almost never managed that; she'd have to tell Avi later.

"That's great!" Victor praised as he hurled a fusion bolt grenade at a group of Dregs. "Don't forget to keep moving as you shoot: a moving target is better than a stationary one."

Ocena nodded and followed Victor's advice, bringing down more Fallen while Thane and Atom swung around and took the others from the sides. They took out a few more Stealth Vandals before entering the room. They saw a captain and several Fallen around it standing near some sort of data terminal.

"They would be guarding it. Anyone feel like tossing a few grenades?" She asked getting one ready. Ocena figured if they could take out a Wizard with three grenades why not a captain? It would likely still take a few bullets in the end because of the shield.

"Ready," Thane assured her as he crouched down just out of the captain's line of sight and detached a small sphere from his belt. Across from him in similar cover Atom detached a magnet grenade from his pouch and nodded to show that he was ready. Victor was still recharging his grenade skill, so instead he pulled out an impressive looking fusion rifle and gave them a nod.

"Okay… throw!"

The grenades flew through the air and fell right at the captain taking the shield and a good amount of its life. The rest of the captain's retinue were forced to scatter, disoriented by the sudden destructive blasts while Victor quickly moved in for the kill, his fusion rifle quickly charging and atomizing the captain with a burst of arc energy. The remaining Fallen were quickly put down by a few well-placed shots from the others.

"That's about it for the small fry," Ocena said as they did a quick sweep of the room for any stragglers. Ocena didn't see Dregs as a big threat: one blast from her hand and they went down, which was good for saving ammo. It was only when they were in large groups that she paid them any worry, harkening back to the old adage of quality and quantity. Once the room was clear the Guardians gathered around the terminal in the back. "Okay Luden, over here."

Luden hovered over to the tall object and started scanning it. _*"The Fallen are trying to access these machines. But something is fighting back? This will take some time."*_

Ocena made a face under her helmet. "How long are we talking?" She asked hearing the sounds of incoming Fallen.

_*"A few minutes. Just bear with me."*_

"This'll be fun…"

"It always is," Atom joked as the senior Guardians spread out in a triangle formation in front of Ocena. Thane was in the back readying a sleek looking sniper rifle, while Atom and Victor took point with their shotgun and fusion rifle respectively. Ocena just took a deep breath to steady her nerves and readied her pulse rifle.

Fun wasn't the best word… well maybe for Atom, he could never shoot enough Fallen. Thorn proved rather useful too, Ocena just wished the gun didn't feel so… she wasn't sure what it felt like but the more Fallen it took the more the feeling went away so it was fine, and Thane didn't seem bothered by it. As the Fallen continued to pour in Ocena noticed a strange object approaching.

"Uh what's- Ahh! What the Hell is that!?" Ocena cried as a large purple and black smoky glowing sphere shot at her.

"It's a Servitor!" Atom exclaimed as he ducked behind a crate to avoid the aforementioned Servitor's blast of violet energy. "They feed the Fallen Ether and make them more effective in battle! We've gotta bring it down fast before they rally!"

"You know I hate the Fallen but I have an all new hate for them… shoot, my main and secondary are nearly out! Cover me while I loot a Fallen, guys?"

In response she heard two thunderous cracks as Thane fired twice in quick succession with his sniper rifle, both shots striking the Servitor dead-center in its eye-like camera and causing a series of deep cracks to spread along it. The Fallen nearest the Servitor shrieked with outrage and turned their attention towards Thane… only to find that he had vanished. Ocena couldn't help but giggle despite the situation as she quickly scavenged some extra ammo; a lot of Guardians complained about Hunters trained for stealth abruptly vanishing at the end of conversations, but out here in the field it was mightily handy.

"Luden I love you but could you do that a little bit faster?" Ocena called to her Ghost as Atom popped out of hiding to deliver the coup de grace to the Servitor with his shotgun, causing it to explode in a shower of fire and molten slag.

_*"Rushing never helps anything."* _Luden replied tersely as he continued to break into the terminal node by node, shutting off old firewalls and anti-intrusion protocols.

"Luden dear I hear we're looking at rain tonight I'd hate it if my Ghost got stuck to a tree!"

_*"... I'm almost done…"* _He replied meekly.

Right as he was about to conjure up a fusion bolt grenade Victor suddenly face (helmet?) palmed himself. "Ugh, _why _didn't we think of this before?! Idea, please go help Luden!"

The other Guardians actually paused in the middle of the firefight as Idea floated over to the console and began to hack in as well. "...Why _didn't _we think of that before?" Thane asked no-one in particular as the fight resumed. Ocena just groaned and shook her head slowly.

"We need some crowd control here," Atom observed as a fresh wave of Vandals charged into the room. "Anyone feel like being a hero?"

"Allow me," Thane said as he slung his sniper rifle over his back and… holstered Thorn? Ocena blinked; what was he doing? Then Thane drew his knife, raised it over his head and… his entire body crackled with arc energy! What happened next happened so fast that Ocena almost didn't see it: Thane seemed to glide across the floor towards the incoming Fallen, and as soon as he was close he lashed out with his knife, reducing a Vandal to a headless charred husk crackling with residual bolts of lightning as Thane moved onto another target. Thane darted from Vandal to Vandal without pause, every movement precise and lethal as he cut them all down. Then Ocena blinked and it was over: the Fallen were dead and the last of the lightning had faded from Thane's body and grounded itself in the metal floor. A half-dozen orbs of Light winked into existence around Thane's feet as he sheathed his knife and swept the area with Thorn in search of stragglers.

"Whoa…" Ocena honestly couldn't think of anything else to say.

_*"Ok. I've pulled out everything they managed to steal. We should destroy this thing."* _Luden said as the few remaining Fallen retreated.

"Thank goodness… you know,_" _Ocena started looking at her friends as they walked over to destroy the object. "Avi once told me she argued with Peter about scanning things. Didn't understand why until now."

"Guardians can sometimes take their Ghosts' work for granted," Victor said as he reloaded. "Every now and then we have to remind ourselves that their job is just as hard as ours is- harder, in some cases."

After they shot the thing a few dozen times it started smoking and the blue light went out.

_*"They didn't get much, kept hitting an active firewall. Old Earth, Russian."* Luden_ paused trying not to hear Oceana's muttered threats and the others laughing softly… or rather trying not to.

Then he caught something: the electronic equivalent of a whisper within the lingering data streams. Curiosity getting the better of him, Luden ran a rapid trace to find the source. Almost immediately he ran into the same firewall that had stymied the Fallen's attempts to extract data from the Skywatch systems, but this time he detected another intelligence within the system, watching him from beyond the firewall. Luden cautiously cut off any unnecessary nodes leading back to his access point to limit the chances of the foreign intelligence launching a cyber-attack against him, but all it did was observe him.

Luden could sense it assessing him, studying him even. Whatever it was, it was old and vast, breathtakingly intelligent and powerful. It didn't feel like a Vex consciousness: he'd viewed the recordings of their digital signatures, and this thing definitely wasn't Vex. That left only one other thing that could possibly be that old and intelligent...

_*"The legends are true."* Luden_ finally said out loud, his voice filled with awe._ *"A Warmind_ did _survive the Collapse. Rasputin, an AI built to defend Earth. He faced the Darkness, and survived. And he's protecting something here in the Cosmodrome. We have to find a way to reach him."*_

"Warmind?" Ocena asked. "What is that?" She realized that her friends had gone completely quiet. Turning around, she saw that all three of them were staring at Luden.

"Idea, confirm this immediately," Victor commanded, stone serious all of a sudden as his Ghost materialized and tapped into the remains of the wireless network.

"Rasputin…" Atom muttered. "All of this time he was still around? The hell has he been up to all these centuries?"

"Umm, guys?" Ocena spoke up. "I'm still here, and you're kinda ignoring me, which is rude." Her friends blinked at her a bit surprised.

"Apologies," Thane said. "What we've just found is quite shocking to say the least."

***"It's him alright,"* **Idea said as he severed his connection to the network. ***"Rasputin is still online and operating within the Cosmodrome's systems. I don't detect any sign of him being connected to networks beyond the Cosmodrome… of course, he could just be hiding his broadcast and access points extremely well. Always a possibility with a Warmind. Either way…"***

"We need to inform the Speaker and the Vanguard right away," Atom said. "The Tower needs to know that Rasputin's back on the board."

"Guys? You're starting to do it again." Ocena huffed.

"We'll explain back at the Tower," Victor said as they began to head back outside. "We need to let everyone know what we've found. This has the potential to tip the scales and end the stalemate that's been going on for centuries." Ocena wasn't really satisfied with Victor's explanation, but she knew that asking now wouldn't get her anywhere, so she just kept quiet and tried to be patient.

_*"Sorry, never thought she'd get like this out here…"* _Luden spoke up as they summoned their ships. _ *"She got this way when she wasn't understanding something she was studying. Let her cool off, get a shower at home and change and she'll be all better then we can talk about Rasputin."* _

"I think we'll need an hour or so to give our report to the Vanguard and Speaker anyway," Thane said. "We'll meet up in the lounge on deck E-47 once we're done."

A few hours later. The Tower, deck E-47...

"Hey guys," Ocena greeted the others, taking her seat at the table with them. "Sorry about earlier."

_*"Can you guys tell her she looks nice? She won't listen to me."* _

"Luden!" Ocena hissed flushing softly. All she had done was take a shower brush her hair and put a dress on! She didn't like dresses that much but she felt like wearing one, since Guardians tended to wear casual clothing rather than their gear in the lounges.

The dress was a lovely shade of red and had gold around the shoulder length collar that pointed the same was at her long sleeves and the end of her dress. It reached down to just over her knees. She wore black pumps and simple short white socks. But the newest items was her necklace: a small cube of Glimmer encased in gold. Her ensemble was as practical as it was beautiful, allowing her to move around easily and comfortably.

It was Victor who finally broke the silence. "My goodness Ocena, I didn't know they still made outfits like that! You look very nice," he finished with a sincere smile.

"Sorry, I've never been able to see the appeal of wearin' clothes instead of armor," Atom said with a neutral shrug. "Seeing as I'm an Exo, my gear is as comfortable as clothing."

"Says the Exo wearing jeans and a turtle-neck," Victor pointed out with an amused smile. Atom turned to give him the stink eye for a moment before turning back to Ocena.

"Like I was sayin', I'm the wrong guy to ask, but I think it looks good on you kid."

Thane was silent as per the norm, however… Ocena was sure she saw a bit of red in his cheeks. "...The color suits you," was all the Hunter said when he finally found his voice.

"Okay thanks for the compliments… now about Rasputin?" Ocena asked blushing deeper and redder than she ever had.

"Rasputin is one of the Warminds," Victor said, launching into his lecture voice. "During the Golden Age, the brightest minds of the time created several AIs that were more sophisticated and more powerful than anything ever designed before. They could create and analyze thousands of simulations at once to determine possible outcomes, responses, consequences that might arise due to individual actions, strategies, you name it. They were designed as weapons of war in a sense, as they were networked into a vast grid of doomsday weapons and defensive systems all throughout our colonies in the solar system. Fortunately, their purpose was to safeguard humanity: during the Golden Age they never did anything other than watch, learn, and create emergency contingencies."

"Then came the Darkness, and the Collapse," Thane cut in. Ocena shivered a little.

"That's when they proved their mettle," Victor said with a grim nod. "The Warminds fought against the Darkness and did everything within their power to protect humanity. They ordered covert strikes on Fallen skiffs out in orbit, tapped into satellites to spy on the Hive, and launched all manner of missiles, laser strikes, and bombardments on the servants of the Darkness. They coordinated efforts to evacuate the colonies on Mercury, Venus and Mars, and controlled automated fighter drones to protect convoys of refugees fleeing the destruction. If not for them, well… it's hard to know if we would have survived the Collapse at all."

Oceana's eyes were wide with awe. "So they were our allies in the Collapse?"

"Our most valuable allies," Atom affirmed with a nod. "They made a lot of tough calls to try to ensure that as many humans could survive as possible: they're the ones who created the suicide mission that my squad and I carried out."

Ocena frowned at that. "They sent you to die?"

"They sent us to give our lives so that thousands would live," Atom replied. "I don't resent them for it: being chosen for a mission by a Warmind meant that it had considered every single option, and then it determined that _you _were the only one fit for the job. Might not make sense, but that was kinda comforting, knowing an all-powerful AI picked you specifically. Gives you a helluva lot of confidence."

Ocena was silent for a minute as she took all of the information in. "So what happened to them?"

"The Darkness recognized how valuable the Warminds were to humanity," Victor said. "It had its minions hunt them down and destroy them. For centuries the Warminds managed to elude the agents of the Darkness, but eventually they were all found, and after costly battles they were all destroyed… or so we thought."

"That Rasputin has survived is a miracle we did not believe was possible," Thane said. "If he managed to survive all this time, then perhaps there are other Warminds still intact out there. And Rasputin will not have been idle during his centuries of hiding from the Darkness: he will have been watching our enemies, looking for weaknesses, creating strategies and plans of attack. If we can get Rasputin as our ally once again…"

Silence. "Wow…" Ocena muttered. "I can see why this is such a big deal now. But I don't understand: If Rasputin's been watching us, doesn't he know that we Guardians are the good guys? So why didn't he contact us in the Cosmodrome?"

"That's a very good question," Victor said with a deep frown. "The Warminds don't answer to a higher chain of command, they're completely independent. Their guiding purpose is to protect humanity, but they recognize that not all battles can be won, and winning one battle might expose them and later lead to their downfall. I've already told a few of our fellow Warlocks that Rasputin is still around, and now there is a theory floating around: that Rasputin stopped fighting during the Collapse and hid himself so that the Darkness would think him dead. It's possible that he's been waiting until just the right moment to return. There's just no way of knowing for now."

Atom shook his head. "We can scratch our heads over this later, besides I'm sure most of the other Warlocks already have a head-start on that. I say that we have a little fun: I hear that a new café opened up down in the City. Why don't we drop in and see how business is?"

Oceana's expression brightened. "That's a great idea! Let me call Avi real quick and we can go!"


	14. Chapter 14

**Note from Colette/DarkMousySan:** Hey guys thanks so much for keeping up with the fanfic! I'm going to be doing little short stories on DA for Ocena and Avi and random pointless little things and maybe… give a look at what happened to Seth and his patrol team…. ugh not looking forward to doing that. Also I have live now! If you see me don't be shy and wave ^-^ I haven't got an Xbox mic sorry won't be able to talk. My Xbox: SesshomruInu500 Do keep reading we're enjoying writing this! Also… been having trouble sleeping so I may not be working on the fanfic a lot, my writing tends to suffer when tired or sick.

**Note from Eltyr: **Also, you guys have the patience of saints for putting up with us not updating regularly. I have no excuse to offer. The good news is that we already have a head start on the next chapter, which will tie up a certain loose end on Earth. We're also going to have a "fun" or non-mission chapter as well before we get to the moon arc properly, which we hope you will all enjoy. Check out Colette's short pieces on DA if you're interested: she did a good job describing what happened to Seth in my humble opinion. Lastly, I'm sure you're all aware of what happens in Destiny in a few days. If anyone on the Xbox One would like the chance to team up with Victor Thane or Atom, send a friend request and message to Eltyr13 saying that you are an O.T.V.A reader. Without further ado I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I will see you in the Dreadnaught Guardians.

**Ch14**

"Seth I know it's been a while- okay two weeks, but no one said getting a new Ghost was easy! This hardly happens just give it more time!" Ocena said; the Hunter didn't reply keeping his head on the table. She sighed and rubbed his arm. "It'll be okay, you'll get a new Ghost. Now come on and go to the Speaker; if you come back without a Ghost again we'll go down into the City and you can look at that building you're so oddly fond of."

"Okay…" Ocena followed him as he got up and left but didn't follow him all the way to the Speaker. She knew this was hard for him.

_*"He'll be alright."* _Luden said hovering at her shoulder.

"I know… just I can't imagine what he is feeling… his Ghost gone and getting a new one? Can such a bond really be made again?"

_*"The Speaker thinks so… but it won't be the same as the first time. A Ghost is like a Guardian's best friend and most trusted."*_

"...I get what you're saying… I hope he'll be okay."

_*"Victor sent a message just now: the others are gathering in the Cosmodrome for a mission. Wanted to know if we'd like to tag along."*_

Ocena nodded; it would do her some good to get her mind off of Seth for a little while. "Okay, call up the ship and tell them we'll meet them in orbit."

**...A few minutes later, in orbit...**

_*"There's reports a team of Guardians went dark near the old Skywatch."* _

"Dark?" Ocena asked. "You mean-"

_*"I don't think they got luck- I don't think they are as Seth was."*_

Ocena frowned at that but allowed Luden to finish.

_*"They were running a mission for Dead Orbit, had codes to a hidden array that could reconnect us to other colonies in the system. If we can find their Ghosts, maybe we can open that array."*_

They soon landed, waiting on moving until Luden was done.

_*"The Ghosts were last heard from near the Skywatch. Let's head there and see if we can find them."*_

"You got it Luden. Since we got Sparrows shall we put them to use?" Ocena asked already ready to summon it.

"Beats getting there the old fashioned way," Victor said cheerfully as the others summoned their Sparrows.

The Sparrows truly did get them around faster… Ocena didn't mess around with it too much… not too much. Though she did a have a few more crashes when she didn't pay attention to her speed.

"Do you guys tend to wonder a lot about how everything used to look?" Ocena asked. She felt like she asked that often but… she always wondered how it all once looked. "I mean just look around the Skywatch, it had to have been impressive back in the day."

"All Guardians do that," Atom said with a smile. "It's the kinda thing you can't help but do. You see a rusted building that's fallin' apart and you think, I wonder what this thing looked like when it was brand new?"

"There's a small group of Warlocks and Hunters back in the Tower who call themselves the 'Artists of Days Gone by,'" Victor said. "They go on long patrols out here and take detailed scans of the environments with their Ghosts. Then when they get back to the Tower they pool their scans together and try to create detailed pictures of what everything must have looked like during the Golden Age. Their artwork is very popular among the civilians down in the City."

"Oh wow, that's really cool!" Ocena exclaimed.

"We could visit them sometime if you like," Thane suggested. "I'm sure they'd love to hear how much you appreciate their work."

"That'd be great!" Before they could get any further Luden spoke up.

_*"We're heading back through the Hive breeding ground. The Vanguard say they're spilling onto the surface now, keeping the Fallen busy."*_

Ocena frowned. She didn't like the Hive. They gave her a bad feeling. Going up the stairs to the first room they fought the Hive… nothing was there. The group wasn't full of fools though they didn't relax their guard.

"Guess we scared em' off," Atom joked to lighten the mood, though he double-checked his rocket launcher as he said this.

_*"Must be where the wizard was- oh sorry Ocena."*_

She had flinched at the mention of the wizard. She had no plans of ever getting close to one again. "I'll be fine. If another one is there I'll just shoot it."

Atom chuckled. "Good thing the minions of the Darkness all share a common aversion to bullets and ordinance." That got a smile out of Ocena.

It turned out the Fallen were there fighting with the Hive. They decided to let the two duke it out for a minute before shooting them down once they'd worn each other out. There didn't seem to be a Wizard waiting for them, and for that Ocena was glad.

A nice big group of Fallen with a captain was waiting for them near an exit. Ocena decided to try out her Nova bomb. She forgot she had it most times which wasn't good; she needed to get used to using it.

"Ah what come on!" Ocena hissed seeing one Vandal had managed to survive her super; a quick blast from her hand took care of it. "Why the Vandal and not the captain?- Luden hush!" The Ghost was currently laughing a little. It was a _little_ funny. She turned to her friends. "No comments from the peanut gallery!"

Victor held his hands up in surrender. "What can I say? There's just no accounting for sheer dumb luck, and even the Fallen get lucky sometimes."

"That's lucky?" Atom asked skeptically as Thane skillfully removed another Vandal's head with a well-placed shot with Thorn. "Think I'd rather be Nova bombed: cleaner way to go."

Victor stared at Atom incredulously. "That was a joke right? You'd rather take a Nova bomb than be on the receiving end of an energy drain melee? You realize that Void walkers can channel their energy in a way that makes victims of said melee _explode_, right?"

"I'm just sayin'," Atom muttered with a shrug. "I've been in the Crucible plenty of times. Energy drains hurt."

Thane coughed. "Perhaps we could re-focus on the task at hand?"

"Seriously," Ocena agreed with a nod, although she did find the argument a bit funny. Victor and Atom both muttered a quick apology and focused on the enemies. They eventually emerged in a very open area where Hive and Fallen were constantly spilling out from caves.

_*"The Ghosts... They are in a clearing between buildings not far from here."*_

"Okay we're getting closer at least."

Once outside Luden spoke again. *_"The Ghosts are still here! The Fallen have them."_

"They what? Oh no, they do not get to steal Ghosts!" Just because Ocena hadn't been a Guardian for long didn't mean she didn't care about the Ghosts and Traveler. She had heard most new Guardians just fought the Darkness and cared less or were too confused to do anything. She was pretty sure it was thanks to Luden and her friends that she was how she was.

Ocena found a Ghost shortly after they put down a few Vandals. "Is it…"

_*"It's dead."* _ Luden confirmed sadly._ *"Keep hunting."*_

_Darn it,_ she thought angrily as Victor applied his Light to the Ghost and made it vanish. The fire team redoubled their efforts, cutting down the Fallen without mercy. Ocena knocked down another Fallen and picked up another Ghost.

_*"This one still holds the codes. Let's find the Array!"*_

Ocena was a little sad the Ghosts were dead but sadly there wasn't much she could do.

"At least we got the codes right?" She said softly following Luden's directions.

"This way we can at least complete their mission for them," Thane said quietly as he re-loaded.

Ocena nodded slowly… then froze. "Uh, guys?" She pointed at a large, jagged… actually, she didn't have a word for whatever it was, but it was huge and black, and glowed green from within. "What the heck is _that?_" Whatever it was, it looked kind of like a giant spiked mace had been thrown at the Earth and had half-buried itself in the ground.

Thane swore softly. "A Hive Seeder. I think we've found the source of the Hive here in the Cosmodrome."

"You mean the Hive came from this thing?" Ocena asked.

"I'm afraid so," Victor said, staring at the Seeder through the scope of his pulse rifle. "Think of Seeders as giant ships that are only good for a single flight. They house thousands of Hive soldiers and at least a dozen Wizards who can raise more Hive. They are used by the Hive to send their soldiers to other planets for an invasion, as they don't quite have spaceships."

"Then what about their Tombships?" Atom asked. "Those things are pretty ship-like if you ask me, and they can hold a decent amount of Hive."

"Well, the working theory is that Tombships can only travel to places where the Hive have a certain amount of their forces already there. You might have noticed that Tombships emerge and leave through some sort of portal, right?"

"Yeah," Atom nodded. "What about it?"

"Well other than those brief appearances you never really see a Tombship flying, so we think that the Tombships have very limited flight capability, which is why they travel through portals."

"So… what?" Ocena asked. "They can only open portals in places where they have a lot of soldiers?"

"That's the theory," Victor nodded. "Unfortunately so much of the Hive's technology relies on this sorcerous-like process that we really have little to no idea how it works."

"Well as fascinating as all of this is," Atom said, "we really oughta call this in. The Vanguard will want to know we've found a Seeder here on Earth that we didn't know was here."

"Agreed," Thane said, holding out his hand for Prayer to materialize. For a few minutes the Guardians kept out of sight while Thane attempted to contact the Tower. Eventually Thane shook his head as Prayer vanished. "No good. Prayer keeps getting interference. Either the Fallen or the Hive are jamming comms, or something else in the area is putting a strain on the local data network."

"Either way, we're not gettin' a message out until it clears up," Atom said. "C'mon, let's see if we can't reach that Array." The way to said Array was surrounded by fighting Fallen and Hive.

"Yeah, just make yourselves at home, we don't mind you destroying everything." Ocena said sarcastically as they took out their enemies. She was really getting the hang of fighting large groups of enemies, especially since her friends were with her to even the odds.

Inside the building Luden and the other Ghosts cast light for them to see. _*"The Darkness is growing stronger. We have to finish this. The Array Control Station is in the next sector."*_

"Okay let's, not have those poor Ghosts have died in vain." Ocena said as they ran up a set of stairs, they ran right into a darkness zone. Ocena hated these… she wondered how Seth would feel in one- no, she didn't want to think about it right now.

Fallen were around every corner, but they were better than the Hive honestly, easier to handle on some levels. Another set of buildings… more things for Ocena to wonder about. She wondered if there was disks or videos… recordings of what once was. She really needed to find the Artists of Days Gone by once they got back to the Tower.

_*"Approaching the Control Station. This is it!"*_

"Only Fallen?" Ocena asked as they came within sight of an open courtyard occupied by a handful of Dregs and Vandals led by a single Captain. "Okay guys not complaining but doesn't this seem… a little too easy right now? The Fallen are a cakewalk for us."

"I'll take cakewalks," Atom muttered as everyone picked a target and got ready to make their presence known. "Not exactly like this war has been a bed of roses. But yeah, these mooks look a little short-handed, especially if a fire team bit it out here."

"Think it could be a trap?" Thane asked, briefly moving his finger off of Thorn's trigger to look over at the Titan.

Atom shook his head. "Nah, not even the Devils are fond of throwing away troops as bait. Even though we found em' red-handed with the Ghosts, I've got a feeling in my proverbial gut that they're not the ones who offed the last fire team." He paused and took note of the Fallen again. "Besides, goin' off of the blues and golds their wearin', it looks like we're dealing with the House of Kings."

"The Hive then?" Ocena suggested. "Only I don't see any around here, and if they were here the Fallen would be fighting with them, right?"

"True," Victor nodded. "But then, the Hive have never been known for skulking about in plain sight. Even on the moon they mainly stick to their temples and catacombs beneath the surface." He sighted up on a Vandal that looked to be holding a shock rifle. "Either way, we're not going to get any answers just standing here."

Ocena nodded and, after checking that everyone was ready, started the fight off by tossing a scatter grenade into the midst of the Fallen. A Dreg shrieked in alarm moments before Ocena's grenade went off, giving the Captain enough of a warning to teleport out of the way in time, leaving the nearby Vandals to take the brunt of the explosions as the Guardians opened fire, methodically cutting down the rest of the scavengers. The Fallen took cover behind various crates and generators while some of them attempted to fire down upon the Guardians from atop a series of railings, but several quick shots from Thane's sniper rifle quickly persuaded them to adopt a new strategy. As the Fallen began to dwindle, the Captain came to the mistaken conclusion that Ocena would be the easiest to deal with and promptly teleported closer to her, its shrapnel cannon spraying bursts of superheated slag.

Ocena had been on the receiving end of this tactic an annoying number of times though, and instantly brought out her fusion rifle. The weapon's arc rounds quickly tore through the Captain's shields, causing it to revise its ill-considered bravery and retreat while firing to cover its escape. It nearly backed right into Atom, who promptly tore it down with a near point-blank blast from his shotgun. At last the fight brought the Guardians into what looked like a monitoring station of some sort, housing a few Fallen that were easily put down.

"That's a wrap…" Atom began as the last Dreg fell, only to curse as the Guardians caught several blips on their motion trackers.

"Gah! Whoa!" Ocena back paddled as several stealth Vandals dropped from the rafters and attempted to skewer the Guardians. Victor quickly hurled a fusion bolt grenade into the center of the room, the bolts striking each of the cloaked Fallen and leaving them with lingering flames that revealed their positions. Now able to see them more clearly the fire team quickly put some distance between themselves and the Vandals and cleared them out.

"Okay," Atom said slowly and carefully. "I _think _that's a wrap." He kept his auto rifle trained on the ceiling just in case he was proven wrong again.

"So… this big wide open space?" Ocena said while gesturing at the area outside that they had just come from. "Yeah this doesn't scream _big fight_ at all…"

_*"...We could get lucky."* _Luden said as he hovered over her hand.

"Us lucky? That'll be the day. Well go on over," Ocena said with a nod at a series of active consoles.

Luden drifted off and got to work. *_"Let's see if these codes still work... Ok, negotiating cryptosystems. Shor-resistant security lattice verified... It's working!"* _

There was an odd sound outside. "Uh… anyone else hear that and get a bad feeling?"

_*"Outside! The Array! It's opening!"*_

As one the Guardians rushed over to the entrance. In the distance an enormous metal construct was rising out of a nearby facility. The structure was absolutely massive, and Ocena had a feeling that she hadn't seen the full scale of its size just yet. The moment of awe and triumph suddenly turned sour when both Ocena and Victor flinched and a sense of menace covered the area.

"Something's coming!" Victor warned, right as a trio of smoky green portals appeared in the air between the Guardians and the array. Ocena was guessing it was the Hive based on the feeling she was getting.

_*"Hive Tombships!"* _Luden cried out._ *"Cutting through!"*_

"I'm not one to curse but shit!" Ocena cried making sure all her guns had plenty of ammo, her Nova bomb ready for use and grenade ready. "How should we go about this guys?"

"Pull back into the control room and stack up on either side of the entrance," Atom commanded, instantly going into field commander mode. "Vic, you and Ocena play mid-field; dart out and take pot shots while tossin' grenades to keep em' on their toes, but back off if they turn the heat up on ya'. Thane, hang back in here and shoot anyone who looks important. I'll take point and put the screws on em'. Anyone got anything to add?" He asked as the Guardians stood with their backs pressed to the inside of the entranceway and watched Hive soldiers beginning to disembark from the ships.

"Just one," Victor said as he stepped out of cover, fire beginning to wrap around his figure. A moment later the flames roared with fury, forming a flaming cloak with wings around Victor as he formed his first grenade in his free hand. **"For the Traveler!"**

"_For the Traveler!" _The Guardians echoed, and battle was joined. For several long moments all of Ocena's focus and awareness narrowed to a fine point, her concentration reserved solely on taking down the first wave of Thralls that rushed her way. Atom and Victor were keeping the majority of them at bay with their auto rifles and Radiance enhanced grenades respectively, and thanks to Victor's Light Beyond Nemesis he was producing orbs of Light like no tomorrow. Remembering that her own super was charged, Ocena noted a fresh platoon of Acolytes taking position on their right flank. She leapt as high as she could and used glide to hover in place and line up her Nova bomb, taking a few hits in the process that were quickly avenged by her comrades.

"Please don't miss!" She hissed as she conjured her Nova bomb and let it fly. She grinned in triumph a second later as the Acolytes were consumed by a great flash of void light, and was even more gratified to see that the vortex ability Victor had tutored her on was now damaging the hordes of Thralls as they attempted to advance. Ocena quickly fell back to the control room to reload, taking a moment to absorb the orbs that Victor had dropped as she did so, gawking at the fact that her Nova bomb was already close to fully charged again. Her elation was interrupted as she heard the sound of more Tombships warping in, firing slow moving violet orbs as they slowed down and prepared to disgorge more Hive.

"Fall back inside for a sec!" Atom called out as he and Victor retreated into the control room, Victor's Radiance having worn off some time ago. Ocena risked a glance back outside as she reloaded: they must have killed dozens of Hive in the last minute, yet more were dropping in and they had several Knights with them! A sudden shriek caused Ocena to curse softly as a Wizard came into view as well.

"Damn," Thane swore softly. "Several of those Knights bear marks of the hallowed; elite Hive soldiers. They're determined to stop us."

"And they weren't before?" Atom quipped as he reloaded.

"Most of those Knights are carrying Boomers," Victor observed. "I hate those things: they lob rounds of explosive arc energy that explode like grenades on impact. That'll make it tricky to get to a good firing angle."

"Leave that to me," Atom said. "Get ready to move on my mark. We're setting up right in front of the entrance. Step inside my ward if you take too much fire, and then pop back out and target those Knights."

"I have my Golden Gun ready," Thane said as he patted a shabby looking hand cannon hidden by his cloak. "I can use my shots either to thin out the Thralls or to take out that Wizard."

"My Nova bomb's almost ready too," Ocena spoke up. "Just need a little more time."

Atom nodded. "Okay, Ocena will use the orbs from my ward to charge up and take care of the Thralls and Acolytes. Thane, you handle the Wizard. Vic, as soon as you've got your Radiance back go nuts and cause as much damage as you can. Everyone ready?"

Ocena's heart was pounding, but she found herself a little bit excited by all of this. Sure it was scary, but with the way her friends fought together like this, she was confident that they could beat anything. She nodded, and Atom squared his shoulders, focused void light building up on his armor.

"3...2...1… GO!" Atom shouted. Everyone sprinted out of the control room with Atom in the lead. Soon he came to a halt and thrust his arms out to the side, the Ward of Dawn blooming into existence and providing the Guardians with some shelter from the relentless bombardment of the Hive Knights and Acolytes. Victor and Ocena both threw their grenades to get the Knights to back off a little before focusing on the advancing Thralls, while Thane drew his Golden Gun and channeled his Light into it. At the same time, Ocena felt her Nova bomb reach full charge thanks to Atom's super, and she quickly darted out of the ward and lobbed her Nova bomb at the biggest group of Hive within range. The explosion shook the air and caused the Wizard to hiss at her angrily, but before it could smite the young Warlock with arc blasts a single solar charged shot smashed right through its shield and burned a hole through its chest. Thane's next shot caught an exalted Knight before it could conjure a shield and caused it to explode, scattering flames that scorched any Hive standing near it, while his final shot took out a group of Thralls that were standing too close together.

Ocena cheered in triumph seeing that the plan had worked; now they only had a few more Knights and some lesser Hive to mop up, and thanks to her and Thane Victor was already activating Radiance again.

Ocena knew that only a few minutes had gone by since the fight started, but it had felt like hours to her as the last Thrall fell and the Tombships stopped warping in. 'This… this is what Guardians can do when they work together,'She thought to herself as everyone reloaded and swapped praises while keeping an eye out for more Hive or Fallen. A frown settled upon her expression as she wondered, 'but then… why are we losing?'Her train of thought was interrupted as Luden called to them.

_*"I think we're clear! You need to see this!"*_

Returning to the Ghost, the group observed that there were now screens online showing Mars, Venus and the moon.

_*"This Array is controlled by the last Warmind - Rasputin. It's connecting to defense constructs all across the system. There could be something out there to help us survive the Darkness."*_

Atom hummed thoughtfully. "Sounds like we let him out."

"Let him out?" Ocena asked. "What do you mean?"

"We think that the bunker that holds Rasputin's main processing core is hidden somewhere here on Earth," Victor explained. "During the Golden Age there was a whole series of arrays like the one we just opened that served as communication points between Earth and the colonies on all the other planets in the solar system. They went offline during the collapse, and that network became isolated. Rasputin could still move around any systems and networks still functioning on Earth, but without any active arrays he couldn't reach any systems on the other planets."

The senior Guardians all went still and silent for a moment as if something had just dawned on them. Just as Ocena was about to ask 'What?' Thane gave her an answer.

"That would mean… that Rasputin now has access to war-satellites, surveillance drones, any remaining defensive systems and platforms on Earth and beyond it."

"And since the Warminds are meant to protect humanity," Atom continued excitedly, "that means Rasputin might start to wage war with the Darkness again! With him back in the fight, we might finally be able to leave Earth for more than just Crucible sorties!"

"One thing at a time," Victor cautioned sagely. "We need to report what's happened here to the Vanguard and the Speaker. They'll be the ones to decide whether or not we can leave Earth and start fighting to reclaim the rest of our colonies."

"Well… I think that went as well as it could have eh guys?" Ocena said rubbing her arms feeling a little chilly. "Shall we head home? I want to check on Seth, he's been really down about… about not being able to get a new ghost." On the inside though, she was trying to hide how excited she felt. If Rasputin really was on their side like the others said he was, and he now had access to surveillance and defensive systems across the solar system, then things were about to get a lot more interesting...


End file.
